See the World in Gray
by DayDreamer03
Summary: Sometimes, you just have to see the world in gray, instead of black and white. Sometimes, you have to accept that you are not what you think you are, that how you picture yourself to be is not always the real you. Sometimes, it takes an action so completely unlike yourself to make you realize how you really are. RenoOC, non-explicit sexual themes and dirty Reno jokes abound
1. Prologue & Little Bug

AN: If you have read my other stories and are curious about my change in story, please head to my profile to read an explanation.  
For new readers- Welcome! I'm extremely excited to return to fanfiction with a new story, and a change of categories. I have written really only anime stories in the past, so this is a big deal for me. I hope you like my story, and if you want an explanation on why I chose RenoOC, please look at my profile, I have a large explanation there.

Also- for those who are curious or fanatic about the love triangle and how I will be addressing it in my story, you can also find that explanation on my page. While I feel it really shouldn't matter, I know that some people are adamant about their views. However, I will note that the triangle does not hold a prominent role in this story as it is not a story about Cloud.

I love reviews, and have been around long enough on this site to know that flames are ridiculous and so shall not be tolerated. Send me a flame, and I shall know how pathetic your life is. Send me constructive criticism that is written in a polite way, and I will send back my thanks and all the good feels I can muster because you are helping me further my writing skills to great heights, and that's really all I want at this point in my life.

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Prologue

The light from the window next to her bed wakes her that morning, confusing her because she swears she would have shut the curtains the night before. She blinks rapidly, the sun blinding her temporarily before she notices that she has a headache, one bad enough to make her lay back down in her bed. She rubs a temple, and groans out before taking a deep breath in. Her room smells of sweat and her sheets are tangled around her naked legs, her blanket strewn on the floor beside the bed. She turns, sees the blanket on the ground and reaches an arm down to bring it back onto the bed. Her head hurts even more as she tugs the blanket over her, and that is when she see it; a bright red hair dangling from the blue and green thread of the blanket. A single red hair, contrasting brilliantly against the stripe of blue.

She becomes very aware that she is completely naked, and she sits up finally, taking in the rest of her room. She notices one of her socks in the doorway to her room, and her shorts and underwear at the bottom of the bed. Finally, she realizes, that she is very alone in her bed even though the other side is slightly warm, evidence that another body once shared her bed with her. Despite her throbbing headache, she stumbles out of her bed, trips over her sheets, and manages to make her way to her dresser. She pulls on a large t-shirt, tugging the fabric down to her thighs, but doesn't bother to put on any other clothes. She walks briskly to her door, down the hall, noticing her other sock and both of her boots, and into the living room area. Finding nothing, she heads into the kitchen. Again nothing. She takes a quick peek into the bathroom, then almost runs down into her shop below her flat, trying desperately to ignore her headache. When she finds that her house and even her shop are completely empty and notices her bra and shirt left by the stairs, she gives a whimper, then plops down onto the ground, leaning back against the counter in the main entrance to her shop. As she silently cries, one thought rings throughout her head.

_He left. I was nothing._

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Chapter 1: Little Bug

That night had been a slow night at the 7th Heaven, which wasn't too much of a surprise. It had been raining outside on the streets of Edge. Only regulars really showed up when it rained, and she was a regular; had been a regular for a year or so now. So Tifa wasn't very surprised when she walked in, her hair and jean jacket damp from the rain, the denim of her jacket a dark blue from the water, her hair a little bit more brown than usual. She removed the jacket and placed it on a rung next to the door then walked slowly into the bar, greeting another regular who sat in a booth on the side of the room. She finally made it to the bar and took a seat on one of the stools, smiling widely at Tifa as she tied her hair up, swiping at wet pieces that had stuck to her face.

"You're late, Bee," Tifa told her, in mock hurt, causing the two of them to laugh.

"In case you haven't noticed, it's raining," she retorted, gesturing to the window beside the bar, the grey clouds outside perfectly reflecting the grey eyes of the young woman at the bar, "Bees have a hard time flying around in the rain."

Tifa gave a small laugh and nodded. "Took longer to get to everybody today?"

"Yeah, but it wasn't horrible. I'm just more tired than usual because of it," Bee answered, smoothing out her frazzled hair, managing to tame it back, redoing her hair once more in its tie. "Just give me the usual, okay?"

"Sure thing," Tifa said with a smile. She walked away from Bee, grabbing a bottle from underneath the bar and swinging it upwards and onto the counter.

Bee turned her attention away from Tifa when she noticed a certain blonde male had entered the bar from the back staircase. She waved him over, catching his attention and earning herself a nod before the man began to move towards her. He paused as he passed Tifa, mumbling something to her that Bee didn't quite catch, before resuming walking to Bee and sitting down beside her. She lifted her right hand from her lap and placed it on the counter, depositing a small bouquet of white a yellow flowers.

"They're still growing just fine," Bee told him softly, thumbing the small petal of one of the yellow flowers and inhaling deeply, trying to memorize their scent, before pushing all of the flowers over to her friend beside her. "You should make the next trip, Cloud. You haven't gone in a while because of the whole Deepground affair, and I know that she would like to see you."

Cloud nodded then gently grabbed the group of flowers up, looking them over. He didn't look up as Tifa walked back over to Bee and placed a glass in front of the younger girl, earning a nod of thanks in return and a few gil. Bee took a sip of her drink, grimacing as the alcohol burned down her throat and settled in her stomach. The first sip was always the worst, in her opinion. She turned back to Cloud, waiting for him to say something.

"They're wet," he finally told her, fingering a few of the flowers, and sure enough his finger pulled away with several droplets of water clinging to his skin.

Bee ignored Tifa who gave a loud laugh, and scowled at Cloud. "Well of course they're wet, you spiky chocobo!" she defended herself, "It's raining out! I went all the way to Midgar and back for these. You could at least be grateful that I did it in the rain." She pouted a bit then took another swig of her drink, the burn less acidic this time as it went down.

"I am grateful," Cloud said quickly, turning to Bee, "I meant, you still went in the rain to get them. You didn't have to."

Bee shrugged nonchalantly. She poked Cloud in the side and said, "I said I would go. The last bunch is already almost dead. She would be upset to see them like that. It's time for a new bunch."

Cloud nodded, and gave Bee the slightest of smiles. "Yeah, you're right. Thank you."

Bee smiled back brightly and shrugged once more. "Of course, Cloud. But, like I said, it's your turn next, kay?"

"Right," he said with an affirmative nod. He bundled the flowers together in one hand, gave Bee a small pat on the shoulder with his other, then stood from his stool and headed back to the stairs behind the bar, the bundle of flowers clutched reverently in his hand the whole way. He again mumbled something to Tifa as he passed, this time with Bee making out the single name of Marlene, before he disappeared up the stairs entirely.

Bee turned back to her glass, taking another gulp from it. Tifa caught her attention after she had helped another customer, and the two began a comfortable conversation about Bee's day, then about Marlene and Denzel, and finally about Shelke, Vincent, and Yuffie. The former Tsviet had been living with Tifa and Cloud since the war with Deepground had ended. She was acclimating well, and had taken a liking to Marlene and Denzel. Vincent came and went as he pleased, visiting Shelke often enough that the girl didn't miss him all the time. Yuffie had yet to return to Wutai as her role in the WRO had not yet ended, though Bee was disappointed to hear that the ninja had gone off on a small mission to Gongaga and wouldn't be around for the next week or so. Yuffie was the only person to come to the bar that was the close to the same age as Bee. Not that Tifa and Cloud were too much older than her, but Bee had always felt a greater connection with Yuffie because of their similar age.

It was during this conversation and in the middle of Bee's third drink that _he_ came strolling in, his hair drooping over his face because of the rain, and his shoulders hunched over in exhaustion. Bee turned around to look at him when she noticed Tifa give him the barest of nods and an amused smile. She witnessed him give her a nod in return and take a hand out of one of his blazer pockets to give a small wave. Bee's stare continued as he plopped down into the stool next to her, the one that Cloud had occupied only a half hour before. Getting a closer look, Bee realized that she knew this man, if only from distant memories and never from actually meeting him.

"Reno," Tifa greeted him, a hint of surprise in her voice, "Back from Wutai? You missed all the fun here."

"Yeah, I heard," he replied, placing his head on the counter of the bar, a small sigh escaping from his lips, "But, see, I had a lot of _fun _in Wutai."

Tifa frowned at this, tapping her fingers on the bar. "I thought you just went to protect Rufus while he negotiated with Godo?"

Reno moved his forehead to the counter this time, threading his fingers into his fire red hair. His voice was muffled as he answered, "I was. It was a normal Turk assignment, well normal now I guess. Protect Rufus. But, you know, not everybody in Wutai really likes Rufus because his father basically shit all over their country. So even though their princess is all buddy-buddy with the WRO, that doesn't mean everybody there likes the WRO. Which meant that Rufus had a total of fourteen assassination attempts on him while we were there. Though I guess that's really not as bad as going to war with that Deepground organization in Midgar is it?" He turned his head to the side again and looked up at Tifa.

Bee barely heard Tifa's response. She stared at the man next to her; Reno, she remembered Tifa saying. A Turk. Suddenly, the alcohol in her stomach started to burn again, and Bee felt very nauseous.

"You're one of the ones who captured Aerith four years ago," Bee interrupted, causing both Tifa and Reno to turn to her in mild shock. Reno sat up straight, smoothing out his hair and flinging his pony tail back over his shoulder. Bee stared back at Reno, her eyes narrowed and her knuckles white around her glass.

Quickly getting over his surprise, Reno relaxed and gave the girl next to him a smirk and replied cooly, "Actually, see, that wasn't me. My boss Tseng caught the Ancient."

"Aerith," Bee quickly corrected him, "Her name was Aerith. And regardless of who caught her, the Turks were after her for years. You caused her to constantly have to look over her shoulder all of her life! You're the reason she was always afraid!"

"Bee, Reno's not like that anym-," Tifa tried to defend the Turk but was cut off by Reno himself.

"No, she's right. I am the reason why Aerith was always afraid," Reno agreed, nodding slowly before taking a drink from the beer bottle Tifa had given him. "But, ya know, the Turks tried really damn hard to delay her capture. I'm pretty sure Tseng had a secret crush on that girl. He was always jealous of Zack, we all knew it, yo."

Bee was the one to show surprise at this. "You knew Zack?"

Reno quirked an eyebrow at her while taking another sip of his beer. He placed it on the counter, keeping it in his grasp, and turned completely sideways towards Bee. "He was a first-class soldier working for Shinra. Of course I knew him. You knew him?" Reno gave Tifa a questioning look, but never turned away from Bee. "Who is this girl? I came here to drink, not to be put on trial, yo."

"I'm right here!" Bee told him with a scowl, "You can ask me!"

"She's a friend, Reno," Tifa interjected, cutting of Reno's retort, "Cloud found her living in Aerith's church after the spring appeared there. She had the stigma, and went to be cured."

"I heard Aerith calling me there," Bee cut in indignantly, slightly annoyed at Tifa's interruption, "She was... a friend when I lived in the slums. We were close... until Zack died. When he disappeared, Aerith didn't have anyone to protect her anymore and she moved around the slums a lot, barely ever staying home. I was younger than her by a few years, and had family so I always stayed in Sector 4. Eventually, I stopped seeing her altogether. When I was old enough, I started visiting her church, hoping she would be there. That's where I was when on Meteorfall, it's how I survived. I left to find survivors to help, and got the stigma in the process. When I went back to the church, the spring was there. I felt Aerith there and didn't want to leave until Cloud found me and brought me here to Edge."

Reno snorted, and took a final swig of his beer, finishing the bottle off and asking Tifa for another one. She obliged, and as he waited for her to take the cap off he said, "I just asked who you were, I didn't ask for your whole life story, yo. A simple, 'I was a friend of Aerith's' would've been fine."

Tifa couldn't help but give a chuckle at this, but one look at Bee's slowly reddening face caused her to full out laugh. Bee looked at her and frowned, only causing Tifa to laugh even more. However, she did give Bee her next drink for free which the younger girl took with a grumble and almost finished in one gulp. She looked back up at Reno and her frown deepened when she realized that he had been staring at her.

"What?" she asked sharply. Tifa had moved on to other customers; the bar had gotten a bit busier as the hours had gotten later.

"You really knew Zack then?" Reno asked, finally turning back to his beer. Bee was glad; she had been slightly unnerved by his staring.

She shrugged at him and nodded. "Yeah, but not that well. Probably not as well as you did if you both worked for Shinra. I knew he was Aerith's boyfriend and I knew he protected her and helped her sell flowers. I met him when she passed by Sector 4 to show me her flower cart. He seemed really nice, I was really happy for Aerith. After that, I only ever saw him a few more times."

"I didn't really know him either," Reno said with a shake of his head and gulp of his beer, "He was just a first class soldier that I met in passing. Tseng was the one who actually knew him." He turned to his right, surveying all the new customers that were bugging Tifa. "Ya know... You don't really fit in with the other customers here... They're all older than you. You know they opened up a club a few blocks back."

Bee nodded, completely unperturbed. "I know. But Tifa and Cloud are my friends. Besides, I actually used to live here for a little while, working the bar on weeknights for Tifa, until I earned enough money to open up a shop of my own." She finished off her fourth drink, and placed it back on the counter with a small clink of glass on wood. "How old do you think I am? I'm not that much younger than the other people here. Look." She pointed to a couple that had just left the bar, both carrying a bottle of beer and their arms looped together. Bee watched as the woman laughed at something the man had said while the man looked a bit smug at his joke. "They're pretty young. Still in their twenties, at least."

"And still older than you," Reno pointed out, barely taking a glance at the couple. He too finished his drink, and then turned to look at Bee again. "I'm not good at guessing."

Bee pouted and continued to watch the couple as they took a seat at a booth on the far side of the room. She noticed another regular that she knew, and waved at him with a smile and a nod. Outside, the clouds grew thicker and the sound of rain could just barely be heard above the jostling and yells of the people of the bar. Reno watched Bee the whole time.

"Twenty-two, in two months."

Reno wasn't surprised. She was almost the same age as the ninja then, just a little over a year older. But Reno had noticed something; she had the eyes of a slum dweller. The people that lived in the slums always had hardened eyes, he had noticed. Tifa, Cloud, and Barrett had them too. But their eyes had nothing on this girl. Her eyes... were like Aerith's. The eyes of a woman who had lived her entire life in the slums.

"You lived in the slums up until Cloud found you?" Reno asked, just to be sure. He had remembered that the AVALANCHE members were not originally from the slums, only Aerith had been there since childhood.

Bee nodded in surprise. "Yeah," she said, pausing to swirl at an ice cube left over in her drink, "How did you know?"

Reno shrugged, not willing to offer the information that the girl's eyes were the eyes of someone much older than her, someone who had seen the worst in people and survived the harshest of conditions. It was easy for someone like him to see. The Turks had dealt with slum-dwellers for years. It was something they picked up on. Instead, he flagged Tifa down in order to get another drink.

"What're you drinkin'?" he asked Bee without looking at her.

"Are you hitting on me?" Bee asked, finally looking up from her glass. Men only wanted to know what a woman was drinking when they planned on buying more for them. Ask what they're drinking, start a conversation, and keep them there with a brand new drink. If the girl was lucky, she could sneak away with her drink after a few minutes, maybe a half hour. Not so lucky, and the girl ended up paying for the drink with her lips, and maybe her bed too. Reno looked at her then and smirked.

"If I am?" he asked, giving her a cocky grin that Bee was surprised to find wasn't as annoying as it should have been. Reno gave off an air of playfulness that Bee had not expected to find in a Turk. Though she figured she shouldn't have been surprised considering that Tifa had let this particular Turk into her bar without running to find Cloud who usually played bouncer on nights like this.

Bee went back to swirling her finger around in her drink and gave a shrug. "I would let you, if it got me a free drink. Or two." She smiled up at Reno, giving him a knowing look.

He laughed at that and when Tifa finally managed to get to him he told her, "Another beer, and whatever the hell it is that this one's drinking." He pointed at Bee next to him.

"Reno," Tifa said sternly, looking back and forth between the two, hesitating at getting the two drinks.

"Let him buy me a drink, Tifa," Bee told her.

"Yeah Tifa," Reno said in mock sweetness, "Let me buy the girl a drink." He rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a handful of gil and placed it on the counter. Tifa took it with a huff of breath and walked away, ignoring the jeers of other male customers that were lined up at the bar, down a little from Reno and Bee. He turned to Bee and gave her another smirk. "I swear she loves me."

Bee snorted at this. She stuck a finger into her empty glass again and scooped out an ice cube, plopping into her mouth where she proceeded to suck on it. She looked back out the window and watched the rain fall for a few seconds before saying, "Bee."

"What?" Reno asked, a little jarred by how random the word was. He had been watching her and her ice cube with interest. She was the best looking thing in the bar, he knew because he had looked earlier. While she was close in age to Yuffie, the girl beside him had a more mature looking face, with a high forehead and slim eye brows, sharp cheek bones, but a smooth jawline below the pinkest lips he had ever seen. Stray wisps of hair framed the sides of her face, and the pony tail she had made earlier went down her back in soft rolling waves.

"My name," she said, looking back at him after determining that it would probably rain all night and she would end up walking home with her jacket over her head. "My name is Bee."

"Bee?" Reno asked, a hint of disbelief in his voice. Tifa had come back with the beer and Bee's drink, and Reno thanked her, passing the other girl her drink before bringing his own to his lips and taking a long pull from the bottle. He turned back to Bee and watched as she took her own gulp and asked, "What kind of name is that?"

"For someone who is potentially trying to hit on me, you're doing a terrible job of it," she informed him, though her voice was indifferent. She frowned and explained, "Bee isn't actually my name. It's a nickname that Tifa and Marlene gave me when I was living here."

"They named you after a _bug_," Reno stated, only half questioning the nickname.

"Yeah," Bee answered with a nod and a smile. She looked over at Tifa who was trying to keep up with the demands of the customers surrounding the bar. So much for it having been a slow night. "I'm a healer. I sell potions out of my shop, and when I close up shop, I travel to people's houses who need more help than one of my potions can give them. Marlene said that I was like a bee spreading nectar to other flowers. Tifa liked the comparison and so the name stuck."

Reno looked at the girl again, for what he felt was the hundredth time that night. He thought there had been several things that had reminded him of Aerith. The brown hair, the slum-dweller eyes, and the calm air the girl seemed to give off. She was even a healer, like Aerith. Just one thing didn't add up.

"So what's a healer doing in a bar, using a fake name?" he asked her, almost accusingly. To his surprise, she smiled up at him over her drink.

"Just because I'm a healer doesn't mean I'm a saint," she told him slyly. The look she gave him made Reno pause, and rethink his decision to flirt with the girl. He had thought she was an innocent, despite having lived in the slums. She was young, naïve, he had thought. This assumption obviously wasn't true. He couldn't just play around with her, like he had originally intended, and it seemed like her drinks were finally starting to hit her. She would be drunk soon, he could tell, and now he had no idea where he wanted this conversation to go with her anymore.

"Now, now, little bug," Reno said in mock chastise, "Don't let Tifa hear you talk like that. She'll get all over protective and throw me out of the bar, and I don't want to deal with that."

Bee gave a breathy laugh and looked down the bar at Tifa who had finally managed to get rid of some of the more boisterous customers that had been hounding at her for the past half hour or so. "Tifa knows I'm a big girl," Bee informed the man next to her, leaning her head on her hand and resting her elbow on the bar counter. She took a deep breath, flooding her lungs with air, a futile attempt at trying to counter act the alcohol in her system. "It's not like I've never been hit on in her bar before ya know."

"Oh?" Reno asked, moving his face closer to Bee's. He heard her breath catch, and watched as her slate grey eyes widened slightly. He was close enough to smell to leftover rain that lingered in her hair, see the flecks of black in her eyes, and notice the blue eye shadow that had smudged a bit on her eyelids. "Well, I bet none of those other men have ever been like me, right?"

Bee quickly finished off her fifth drink, and pushed it away from her before turning back to Reno. She hadn't really noticed just how _red_ his hair was. Almost as red as a fire hydrant, she determined. And the tattoos under his eyes were just as red, but his actual eyes were a beautiful greenish color.

"They've never been as beautiful as you," Bee answered. She looked away quickly and felt her face burn up. Suddenly the ice in her empty glass looked more appealing than anything else she had ever seen before and she immediately scooped it up, as she had earlier, and placed it in her mouth in order to suck on the water.

Reno couldn't help but give the smallest of laughs at the girl. Her face had been flushed before, a side effect of all the alcohol she had drank, but now her face was a bright red. He finished off his beer and flagged Tifa down for another one. When Tifa asked Bee if she wanted another drink as well, the younger girl shook her head and asked for a water instead, never looking up from the ice inside her leftover glass. Tifa gave Reno a pointed look, but the Turk just shrugged as if to say, "I didn't do anything." The bartender gave a sigh, but brought Reno another beer. He took a swig and turned back to Bee. Deciding to change tactics he asked, "So, tell me about your shop, little bug."

Bee frowned at this while nibbling on the straw of her water. "My name is Bee, not little bug."

"Actually, you said Bee was a nickname, yo," Reno pointed out, motioning with his beer bottle at her, "And you won't give me your real name, so that gives me permission to call you whatever I want."

"No it doesn't," Bee told him sourly. When Reno said nothing, only drank from his beer, Bee sighed in defeat. "I told you, I sell potions at my shop."

"Riiiiiight," Reno said with a nod. He waved his hand at Bee and continued, "What _kind_ of potions? You don't just sell healing potions right? You'd never make money off of just that."

"No," Bee said with a shake of her head, her face brightening considerably. She sat up straighter and for the first time that night, turned to face Reno completely, mirroring his posture from earlier. "I sell healing potions, obviously. But I'm really good at making antidotes for various types of poisons, that's actually my specialty. But I also make tranquilizers, ethers, elixers, you know that kind of stuff. But you'll never find a better antidote maker than me." Bee beamed at this, overly proud of herself.

"Yeah, yeah, calm down, little bug," Reno said with a laugh, "Drink your water." He motioned to her water and Bee nodded and chugged the rest of it before basically slamming the glass back down on the counter, bits of left over water sprinkling onto the wood. "Jeez, slow down! You'll get sick."

Bee giggled at this and shook her head. "I'm fine," she told him with a smile, "Big girl remember?"

"Right..." Reno replied with a shake of his own head, "Then I guess you can handle another drink, huh?" He signaled to Tifa once Bee had nodded her head enthusiastically, and finished his beer before the martial artist had reach him. Ordering another drink for both of them, he turned back to Bee, and by the look she was giving him, he knew this would be an interesting night.

Bee for her part, didn't remember much of the rest of the night. She remembered grabbing her sixth drink from Reno, and their hands brushing together as she did so. She remembered thinking that despite his work, his hand felt soft and that she wanted to touch it again, so she did. Later on, after Reno had cut her off and only ordered her water while he continued to order beer, she remembered running her hands through his hair, claiming that she had never seen hair so red in her life. He had smiled at that, and caught her hand in his and stood, pulling her up with him. She thought she remembered him asking if she wanted to leave, and she definitely remembered answering yes, walking out the door with his hand in hers. They both tripped out the door, and that was how Bee realized that Reno was drunk too. She asked him how many he had had, and he answered, but the number was something that she _didn't_ remember. He must have asked her to go back to her place, because she remembered that was where they ended up.

The rest was a complete blur, and only leftover clues helped fill in the rest of the night. It was still raining when they left, she had left her jacket at the bar, and her clothes were soaked by the time the two had reached her place. Reno's were too, and they obviously found it necessary to toss their clothes on the floor as they slowly made their way up to Bee's bedroom. Bee could only remember the bright red of Reno's hair, how green his eyes were as he lifted her up as they made their way to the stairs so that their eyes were level with each other, and how soft his lips had been on her mouth, her neck, her shoulders, her stomach. The smell of rain and sweat had overwhelmed her, and Reno had slipped on her sock in the hallway to her bedroom, and he had used the bedroom door frame to balance him. There were still nail marks from where he had grasped the frame. There were marks over Bee's shoulders and breasts from where Reno had nibbled playfully on her. A few stray strands of red hair adorned the pillow where Reno had landed after the two were finally sated and tired enough to sleep. And finally, the heat of the sheets where Reno had slept just that morning before he left without saying goodbye was enough proof for Bee to know that she had made the biggest mistake of her entire life.


	2. I'm So Proud of You

A/N: For more info on this story please go to my profile!

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Chapter 2: I'm So Proud of You

Bee met Aerith for the first time when she was seven years old and Aerith was twelve. Bee had fallen off the swings of the playground in the slums, and scraped up her ankle. Unable to walk back to Sector 4, Bee sat down and cried instead. Her older brother had already left the playground, and there was nobody else around to help her back to her house. She was looking down at her ankle in despair when Aerith came to her, passing by the playground on her way home to Sector 5. Bee hadn't even noticed her until suddenly there was a hand on her ankle. Panicked, Bee looked up to find the young girl smiling at her.

"Here," Aerith had said to her, "I can help you."

Bee watched in amazement as Aerith's hand glowed a bit and she felt the pain of the scrape slowly ebb away. Aerith removed her hand and Bee was at a loss for words when she saw that the scrape was completely gone.

"Are you an angel?" Bee asked the girl in awe.

Aerith chuckled at that and shook her head. "No! Sometimes, I can heal people though."

"Do you have materia?" Bee questioned. She had seen some adults who possessed materia heal before.

Aerith thought about the question a little before answering, "Yes... I have materia."

Bee was too young to question Aerith's answer at the time. Aerith had materia and she had been able to heal Bee and that was all the seven-year-old cared about.

However, as the years went on, Bee realized that Aerith was special. She sometimes knew where injured children were, she said that their pain called to her. Bee never questioned it because Aerith was so kind. She used her healing to help other people and she was so close to nature. Bee believed that Aerith really was an angel that had been sent to protect her.

Eventually, however, Bee came to the conclusion that maybe it was the other way around. Maybe Bee had been sent to protect _Aerith_. Bee was the one to catch Tseng spying on Aerith the very first time. It was only a year after Bee had met Aerith, and Aerith was tending to her flowers in the Sector 5 church. Bee often accompanied Aerith on her trips to the church; she found the flowers to be beautiful and you couldn't find flowers anywhere else in Midgar. However, Bee was more restless than Aerith and often got bored quickly. On this particular day, Bee had decided to play in the rafters above the church, something that her and her brother did together when they came to visit Aerith. Bee's brother was three years older than her, and two years younger than Aerith, but he always acted older, constantly taking care of the two girls. But he wasn't there that day, so Bee took extra care to not fall down into the bed of flowers below.

Instead, she fell outside the church, landing straight on her back in front of the entrance. Thinking she had surely died in the fall, Bee opened her eyes slowly, preparing to look into the face of God, or Shiva, or whatever deity had taken her from the slums. Therefore, Bee was shocked to find herself looking at the doors to the church. She rolled over, onto her hands, and felt something soft below her. She yelled, and jumped up and away from whatever she had fallen on, and with hands outstretched to defend herself, she took in the sight of a young man laying on his stomach.

The man grunted and heaved himself up, dusting off his suit blazer and pants, and flicking his ponytail back and forth. He rubbed his face where he had scraped it on the concrete and looked down at Bee curiously.

"Mister... you alright?" Bee asked, concern laced through her voice, "You stopped me from dying! I fell right on you!"

"Ugg..." he responded, rubbing his face again, trying to get the dirt off of it.

"Hey... What are you doing here?" Bee asked, after determining that the man had not sustained any permanent damage, "Did you come to see the flowers too?"

The man looked at her and quickly realized the position he had been put in. His brow furrowed and when Bee asked if he needed a healer he jumped, gave a quick no, and ran. When Aerith came to the entrance to see if Bee was alright, she caught only the smallest of glimpses at him. But that glimpse was enough, and soon Aerith was seeing that man, Tseng, and the rest of the Turks, everywhere.

Bee looked out for him and the rest of the Turks as well, but she never really saw them when she was with Aerith. The Turks, namely Tseng, always seemed to appear when Aerith was alone, and that scared Bee. Her angel was never supposed to be in danger. Bee knew, however, that that man had changed everything for her and Aerith.

There were subtle changes as the years went on. Aerith came to see Bee less and less. When she did go see Bee, she talked about the planet a lot, or about voices that she heard. Bee learned to ignore these comments because when she acknowledged them, Aerith became embarrassed and ran away. Bee never wanted to lose Aerith, because Aerith had come to represent hope in Bee's slum life. Aerith gave life to whatever she touched, and Bee wanted to do the same. It was her entire life goal to heal, just as Aerith did.

Bee was eleven when Aerith brought Zack to meet her. Aerith told Bee that they had been seeing each other for a year now. Bee liked Zack, maybe not as much as she liked Aerith, but Zack was kind to her. Zack was the one that made Bee less afraid of Tseng, and less afraid of Shinra in turn. Aerith loved him, Bee could tell. Over the next year, Bee began to see Aerith only a few times a month. While this made Bee sad, she could tell that Aerith was happier than she had ever been in her entire life. Bee was jealous of Zack in a way, he got to see Aerith more than she did. But she was happy for her friend.

It was Zack who gave Bee her Restore materia.

Zack came and found Bee of his own accord, knocking on the front door of her family's house. Her mother answered and called for Bee to come to the living room, saying a SOLDIER had come to visit her. Bee was surprised to find Zack there, sitting calmly in her living room, as if he had been there a thousand times before. In reality, his presence in the room was overwhelming. He didn't seem to fit in with the drab curtains behind him, and the dirty carpet below his feet. He was better than that. But he didn't seem to care or even notice and he smiled when he saw Bee enter the room, and gestured for her to approach him.

"Aerith said that you want to be a healer," Zack told her as she sat next to him on the couch, sitting on a stain that had been there since before she was even born. She nodded up at Zack, unable to find any words to say to him that wouldn't sound stupid to his educated ears.

He nodded and his smile widened. He stuck a gloved hand into his pocket and withdrew it, clutching a small round, shiny object. He passed this object to Bee, and then took off a silver bracelet from around his wrist and passed that to Bee as well.

"This is Restore materia," Zack told Bee, pointing to the round object in Bee's small hand, "It will enable you to use Cure magic. The more you use it, the stronger the materia will become, and eventually you will be able to cure just about anything. You can attach it to this bracelet here like this..." He took the materia from Bee's hand again, and placed it into a small circular slot on the bracelet he had given her, pushing until the materia clicked into place. "Here, now you can wear it and start helping to heal people." He slipped the bracelet on over Bee's wrist, securing it in place so that it didn't fall back off again. He sat back against the couch and looked down at Bee with that same smile on his face.

Bee could only stare back and forth between the materia and Zack in wonder. Finally, she asked, "Why?"

"Hmm?" Zack hummed in surprise, "Because you're Aerith's friend, and she worries about you. She asked me to get this for you so that you could start to take care of yourself because she won't be able to be around as much. She's going to start selling flowers throughout Midgar to make money. She said you should start taking care of the other children in the slums."

Bee felt her eyes water, and she knew she wanted Aerith to marry that man, more than anything else in the world. She promised Zack right then and there that she would do what Aerith wanted her to, and she would make both Zack and her friend proud. Zack had laughed, patted her head, and said that Aerith was already proud of her. He gave the small girl a hug, thanked her mother for her hospitality, and left, sweeping out of the front door in such a fashion that Bee knew he would do great things.

She never saw Zack again after that day

While she knew that Zack would never have disappeared for so long without seeing Aerith unless something was wrong, Bee hoped beyond hope that he would return, his big smile on his face, and he would take Aerith away from the slums forever. As Bee grew older, she knew that Zack wasn't coming back, and she couldn't bare to see Aerith's sad face anymore. She starting her traveling healing business, visiting sick residents of the slums and healing them for a small fee. She barely saw Aerith anymore as the girl had started venturing up to the plate to sell her flowers. Bee refused to go to the plate; she was a slum girl and she didn't belong up there. Aerith would be fine, she was older and wiser, and she gave off an aura of confidence that would ward off any would-be burglars.

By the time Bee was seventeen, she had managed to scrounge up enough money to buy a Heal and Revive materia as well. She had taken on an apprenticeship with the local alchemist and learned how to make basic potions, antidotes, and ethers. With Aerith's help, her healing skills became top notch. But that was the only time Bee ever saw her older friend. Eventually, she stopped seeing Aerith altogether and when she went to visit Elmyra, the older woman had informed Bee that Aerith had been captured by the Turks, but had escaped and then left Midgar on a journey to save the planet, as was her destiny as the last living Cetra. Bee had ran from the house, hurt that her angel had left without even saying goodbye to her. She didn't even want to process the fact that Aerith was supposedly the last of an ancient race.

So Bee spent the next few weeks locked in her bedroom, refusing to leave and walk around the areas where she had spent so much of her childhood with Aerith. Her brother had left years before to become a SOLDIER like Zack, and her mother was kept busy running a bakery down the street, so Bee was left alone most of the time. It wasn't until late that January that Bee left her house. She had been drifting in and out of sleep when she felt Aerith. Her heart had clenched, and she had the overwhelming sensation that Aerith was close. She rose from her bed and peered out her window, and Aerith's aura hit her like a boulder in the face. She rushed down the stairs, leaving the front door open, and quickly losing her breath in her haste. She paused to fill her lungs, and her heart tugged a bit. Not knowing how to find the source of Aerith's aura, Bee ran to the church, the only place she could think of that Aerith would be sure to go to if she ever returned to Midgar.

Bee skidded to a halt before the patch of flowers, and immediately noticed that Aerith was not in the church. But Bee still felt her, and she seemed to come from everywhere. Confused, Bee stayed in the church, unwilling to leave in case Aerith really did come back.

It was where Bee stayed while Meteor fell onto Midgar.

Bee wouldn't know what had really happened until much later on, but suddenly the patch of flowers glowed a bright green, and Bee felt Aerith all around her, hugging her, and holding her close. She dropped to her knees, choking on the sensation, until the green energy left her, and a dark one covered her instead. She felt like she was suffocating, and she fell into the center of the flower patch and did not awaken for several hours. When she finally awoke, it was with creaking bones that she stood, only to fall back to her knees, too weak to support herself.

"_I'm sorry_."

Bee gasped and turned, expecting to see Aerith behind her, but there was nothing. Bee shook her head, passing the voice off as a figment of her imagination, a deep wish that Aerith had actually been there to help her, just as she had all those years ago with Bee's ankle. But there was nobody this time to cure Bee. Instead, Bee was the one who would need to go out and cure the people of the slums. Ignoring how tired she was, Bee made her way out of the church and into the rubble that was once Midgar.

Cloud would not find Bee in the church for another two years, and by that time, Bee had already found the ruins of the bakery that her mother had been in during the Meteorfall, had already began her journey to heal as many of the survivors of the slums as she could, and had already had the stigma spread throughout her body. She was floating in the spring that Aerith had sprouted from the Lifestream, her eyes closed, her hands laced over her chest. Cloud said nothing, and it was Bee who made the first move when she finally noticed him standing over her, by the water's edge.

"You're a SOLDIER," she observed, taking in his Mako infused eyes.

"No," he answered with a shake of his head, never taking his eyes off the strange girl in the water.

"But you have the same eyes as him," Bee argued back, standing up in the water and walking over to him. Her eyes lit up when she saw the sword on his back. "And you have a big sword like him too."

Cloud's eyebrows lifted at this. He reached back and took hold of his Fusion sword, the one he had replaced the Buster Sword with in order to place his friend's sword at his grave. He brought the sword over his shoulder and held it in both hands, observing the girl's reaction to it. She smiled up at him and nodded vigorously.

"Like Zack!" she told him, pointing at the sword. Cloud showed surprise on his face and Bee smiled wider. "You knew him?"

"He was... a friend," Cloud said with a nod. He knelt down now, bringing himself closer to the girl and taking in her wet brown hair, held in a loose braid down her back. Hard slate grey eyes looked back at him, anxious and excited.

"You did know him!" she exclaimed happily. She rushed to the edge of the water and pulled herself up beside Cloud. "Then... maybe... you knew his girlfriend? Her name is Aerith."

Cloud hesitated at this, turning to face her as she sat herself on the floor, her feet still in the water. She felt his hesitation and turned to look at him. She frowned when she saw his face and said in a low voice, "She... she's gone isn't she?"

Not knowing what to say, Cloud only nodded. The girl next to him looked back to the water and gave a slow nod. "I thought so," she said quietly, "I felt her not so long ago. I was sick, and she called me here. This water... When I went into it, it felt like her healing me. I'm not sick anymore. If she was alive... she would have just came to me. Instead she sent something to heal me. She's... she's with Zack now. They've both... returned to the planet. That's what she called it when someone died."

"Yeah..." Cloud answered with a nod of his head. He said nothing else, and the two sat beside the water as Bee quietly cried into her hands over the loss of her angel.

Cloud took her to Edge that very same day, but not before stopping on top of the mountain where Zack had died. Bee fingered the sword that was stuck into the ground, and knelt before the last memento of the man that had given Bee the means to the start to the rest of her life. She didn't ask Cloud how either of her friends had died, and she wouldn't for some time. She had been broken that day, the news of the deaths of her friends was just too much to bear for her at once. She had nothing left in Midgar, her mother was gone, Aerith was gone, and she had no idea where her brother was or if he was even alive.

Hopping back onto Cloud's motorcycle, Fenrir, Bee hugged herself into Cloud's back, finding comfort in the warmth of someone who had known Aerith, had been there with her when she died. When Cloud turned sideways so that she could hear him when he asked her what her name was, she shook her head and replied, "Call me whatever you want. There's nobody around that knows it anymore anyway."

Cloud only nodded at that, not questioning her response at all, and took out his PHS from his pocket, flipping it open and dialing a number. He held it to his ear and Bee heard a feminine voice answer on the other end. "Tifa, I've got another one. Looks like she's Yuffie's age. Think we have room?" Bee didn't hear the answer but she assumed it was an affirmative. Cloud continued, "Oh, and she's a friend of Zack and Aerith. So, we should make her a good welcome, or else they would be mad with us."

Bee hugged Cloud closer, and cried the entire way to Edge. She wasn't sure if they were tears for the loss of her friends or if they were tears of joy over the fact that she was going to have a home again. Maybe they were for both.

As Cloud drove her to Edge, through her tears, Bee swore she heard Aerith's voice in her ear.

"_Be safe_."

Tifa welcomed Bee with open arms, giving the young girl her own room, clothes, and job. While she was grateful to Tifa, Bee couldn't bring herself to talk much in the first few months of her stay at the 7th Heaven. Aeith's death still weighed heavy on her heart. While Bee had figured that her friend had died, a part of her had desperately hoped that that wasn't true. A part of her had continued to believe that Aerith would come to her again, to heal her as she had when they were younger. As the months went on at the 7th Heaven, Bee realized how childish of a hope that had been, and that it was time to grow up and face the facts: Zack was dead, Aerith was dead, her mother was dead, Midgar was gone. However, that didn't mean that Bee couldn't carry on Aerith's work.

Bee had already told Tifa and Cloud of the work she had done in Midgar, traveling the slums to heal those who needed it. That was how she had received her nickname of Bee. With renewed vigor, Bee started picking up more shifts at the bar at night, and during the day she made potions and walked the streets of Midgar looking for orphans that needed her help. Within the next year, she had made enough money from her tips and from the more than generous salary that Tifa paid her to open her own shop. Cloud and his friends had helped build the building themselves, working long hours every day to complete it. Bee had never been more proud of herself than when she was finally able to put an OPEN sign on the front door, furnish the upstairs as her home, and paint the name of her store above the large front window: "Busy Bee's Potions and Poultices."

"Well shit, ain't that a sight," Cid had drawled, taking a large puff of his cigarette, "Guess that was worth leaving Shera for the past month for."

"Was it worth leaving your oil for, Barrett?" Bee asked Marlene's dad with a smile.

Barrett laughed and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Kid, if I hadn't come back to build this for you, Marlene woulda never talked to me again, right Marlene?"

Marlene smiled down from where she perched on her dad's shoulder and nodded vigorously. "Yes! Bee worked hard for this too!"

"You already have people interested," came the rough voice of Vincent. Bee turned to look at him and saw that he was pointing across the street from the shop. She followed his gesture, and saw a woman and a child looking over at the store. Realizing they had been noticed, the woman took the child's hand and walked over to the large group.

"You're selling potions," the woman asked the group, not really knowing who to focus on.

Bee nodded and stepped forward. "That's right. I'm Bee, and I make potions and more. Did you need something specific?"

"My husband found a patch of poisonous plants on a construction site, and he needs several antidotes for the workers that might come in contact with it," the woman informed her. The child looked up at Bee with wide eyes, and Bee smiled down at him.

"Yuffie," Bee said, turning to her friend with a smile, "Could you do me a favor and take this lady inside the shop and show her to the antidote section. I will be right in to help, I just want to finish up with the outside."

"Of course!" Yuffie agreed, enthusiastically, stepping forward and looping an arm through the woman's arm and guiding her into the store, prattling off all the types of antidotes that Bee made for the store. The woman listened with interest, her son toddling behind her. They disappeared into the store and Bee watched Yuffie through the window.

"What do you still have to do?" Nanaki asked Bee, looking up at her, his head tilted slightly in thought.

"I have one final decoration to add," Bee told him with a wide smile. Slowly, she made her way to the front door of the shop, stopping to shove a hand into her front jacket pocket. When she pulled her hand out, a pink ribbon was laced in her fingers. The ends blew in the wind as Bee tied it around the doorknob, forming a small bow. Finished tying it, Bee stepped back and looked at it in admiration.

"She would be so happy for you," Tifa told her quietly, having walked up behind the younger girl to watch what she had been doing. Bee turned around to find that her friends had all come forward to observe the ribbon.

"They both would," Cloud told her gently, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Bee could only nod. "Yeah."

It was with that thought that Bee turned back to her shop, twisting the knob with the pink ribbon and entering into the cool air on the other side. As she took over for Yuffie, helping the woman find exactly which antidote would help her husband, Bee smiled, hearing Aerith's voice whisper in her ear one more time.

"_I'm so proud of you._"

* * *

A/N: This is the shortest chapter that I have so far, and I have almost 12 chapters. Also, in case not all of you managed to watch the Complete Version of Advent Children, Cloud moves Zack's sword to the church after restoring the sword. The sword is still on the cliff in this story, so Cloud found Bee before he moved it. Hopefully, this helps you understand the time frame of when this took place.

Finally, this is also the only chapter where it is completely a flashback. It's a necessary evil to explain my OC further, as well as cement her place in the final fantasy vii world.


	3. Things You Want Forgiven

A/N: For info on this story, please head to my profile!

Also, please please please review! If I end up not getting a lot of reviews, I will take the story down because I will assume that nobody is reading it. Even itf the review is a short, "Hey, I like your story and here's one reason why..." Or "I don't like your story because..." That would make my day!

* * *

Chapter 3: Things You Want Forgiven

The PHS had been ringing for the past half hour, going unanswered and buried under the pile of wet clothes Bee had left in her room. The bathroom was filled with steam, fogging up the mirror that hung on the wall over the sink. Scalding hot water beat down on Bee's back, but she barely noticed how hot it was as she sat on the floor of her tub, her arms crossed on her knees and her head resting on top. Leftover suds from her soap lingered around her feet, and she kicked at them, trying to make them disappear down the shower drain, but they were stubborn and instead clung to her toes. She kicked again, trying to fling them off her foot, but they seemed to cling even harder, and she was finally forced to wipe them off with her hand, smacking her palm into the water surrounding her. She brought her hand back to her knees, ignoring the pain that had shot through her arm from the force of her strike. She sat like that for a few more minutes until she heard her PHS ring again, for probably the twentieth time that day. Sighing, Bee stood and turned off the water, pulled back the shower curtain, and exited her tub. She grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself and hurried down to her bedroom, water dripping a trail behind her. She dug through the wet clothes on her floor, and answered her phone, cutting of the obnoxious ringtone she had set for Tifa.

"I'm fine, calm down," Bee said hastily into the phone, standing up and moving to her dresser where she rummaged through the drawers for a bit, looking for a set of clothes to wear for the day.

"Bee! Do you even know what time it is?" Tifa's panicked voice came from the other end of the phone. Bee could imagine her pacing throughout the hallways and rooms of her apartment above the bar, as Marlene tagged along behind her, trying to calm her down.

Bee didn't take much time to think before answering, "Morning?"

"No!" Tifa yelled back, startling Bee a bit, causing her to drop the shirt she had planned on wearing for the day. Bee knelt down to pick it up as Tifa continued, "Bee, it's almost two in the afternoon! I came to the shop earlier to see if you were okay, you left the bar so drunk, and with Reno of all people! But your shop wasn't open and when I knocked and called up you didn't answer! I've been calling you ever since then! Where have you been, are you okay?! Did Reno hurt you? I'll kill him!"

"Tifa," Bee interrupted, wincing at how loud Tifa's voice was, "I'm fine. I just overslept. I'm allowed to do that every once in a while, aren't I?"

"Well... yes," Tifa said hesitantly, "But you still left with Reno!"

Bee grimaced at this, and struggled to put underwear on without dropping her phone. She decided to sit on her bed and place the phone between her cheek and her shoulder. "He didn't hurt me," Bee answered, but said nothing more on the subject. She stood, grabbed her pants and put them on, waiting for Tifa to say something back.

"Bee... You left holding his hand," Tifa told her. Bee couldn't tell if her voice was accusing, or concerned. It could have been both.

"I did," Bee stated back simply. She was fiddling with the clasp of her bra, cradling the phone in her neck again.

It took Tifa a minute or two to finally reply. "You slept with him."

Bee didn't answer this time. Having finally managed to get her bra on correctly, she held her shirt in her hand, looking down at the blue fabric and scrutinizing the stitching around the buttons of the front of it. She honestly didn't know what to say to Tifa. If she said yes, she was admitting to having a one night stand with a man she had just met one time, a man that had hunted Aerith for years. If she said no, she was lying to the woman who had given her a home and the means to start a new life.

Weighing her two options, she decided to tell the truth, as she knew Tifa of all people deserved Bee's honesty. "Yes." She placed her blue blouse on her dresser, deeming it necessary to wear a black tank top underneath it, and went through her drawers again until she found the article of clothing in question. Tifa said nothing again, and Bee knew she had stopped her pacing, and had probably kicked Marlene out of whatever room she had stopped in. Bee took the silence to tug on the tank top, and then slink her arms through her blouse, buttoning it up only halfway and letting the ends dangle over her white shorts. Tifa began talking again as Bee opened her closet, looking for her boots so that she could finally go and open her shop.

"He left the next morning without saying good bye, didn't he?" Tifa asked, her voice neutral. Bee was impressed by how monotone Tifa had managed to ask the question.

"He's a Turk, Tifa," Bee answered, slipping her feet into her black leather boots, buckling the sides of them. She then went to her mirror and brushed her wet hair out of her face, and put a simple black headband in it. "Turks don't do anything past one night. Relationships complicate things."

"You... sound like you already knew this," Tifa said in surprise.

Bee shrugged, even though she knew Tifa couldn't see it. She walked out of her bedroom and down the hallway, and stopped in her kitchen. "Tseng really liked Aerith, and yet he never did anything about it. Besides, the Turks are well known. I think everyone knows it." She grabbed a glass from her cabinet, and filled it with water, gulping it down quickly before turning to another cabinet and pulling out a protein bar. She unwrapped it as she made her way to her staircase and into her shop.

"I guess," Tifa answered back, her voice trailing off. Bee said nothing back. Finally, Tifa continued, "Are you okay?"

Bee stopped walking. Was she okay? No. No she wasn't in the least bit okay. She had had a one night stand, her first in her life. She honestly felt disgusting. Her first thought when she had realized it earlier was that Aerith would never have let something like that happen. Aerith would never have gotten drunk in the first place, would never have let a man go home with her. Bee was ashamed of herself.

"I've had sex before," Bee answered, dodging around the question in the best way she could. She continued her walk to the shop door, unlocking it, and flipping the sign that hung from the glass window to "Open".

She heard Tifa sigh in exasperation on the other end, a noise that came across like static. "You dated the two guys you had sex with. This isn't the same thing."

Bee rolled her eyes and moved to lean against the register counter. "I _know_, Tifa. I don't... I don't want to talk about this, okay?"

Tifa heard the pleading in her younger friend's voice and gave another sigh, filling Bee's ear with the sound of static again. "Fine," she recoiled, "I just wanted to make sure that you weren't hurt."

"You think Reno would have hurt me?" Bee asked, purely curious. Sure, Reno was a Turk, but Tifa had let him stay in her bar, and had even had a pleasant conversation with the man. They didn't seem to be friends, but they were definitely no longer enemies.

"No, actually," Tifa answered, surprising even herself with the answer, "I don't think he would have hurt you. Reno isn't like that. He maybe in the Turks, but he has a conscience. You know, the Turks tried to save Zack and Cloud."

"Really?" Bee asked in surprise. She had never really heard the specifics of Zack's death. She only knew that Zack and Cloud had been taken by Hojo to be experimented on, and Zack had been killed by Shinra soldiers when he tried to return to Midgar.

"Yeah," Tifa told her, her voice light and she thought back on the story Tseng had told her shortly after Kadaj and his gang had been defeated. Searching for the true events of the day Zack died, Tifa had been too afraid to ask Cloud and had sought out the Turk instead. "They had been ordered to bring Cloud and Zack back to Shinra, but they ignored the orders. Tseng ordered them to bring them safely back to Midgar instead, keeping them away from Shinra. Reno took a helicopter and searched for them, but the Turks never found them..."

Bee closed her eyes, knowing that Shinra found them instead. "I never knew..." she told Tifa, her eyes still closed.

"The Turks... are not the same as they were before," Tifa said, her voice slightly strangled, "But their job is still dangerous, and they don't like to get too close to anyone else. Reno's best friend is his partner, Rude. He only ever really came to the bar on occasion, before you started to. He stopped for a while because the WRO had become so busy, and Rufus was taking a more hands on approach to the organization. Every once in a while, he has a job for Cloud, delivering something for Rufus."

"Cloud delivers stuff for _Rufus Shinra_?" Bee asked in disbelief. She turned around to gaze out the front window, watching several people pass by her shop.

"Yeah, sometimes. But that's not the point," Tifa said hurriedly, "Stop changing the subject. I called to make sure you're okay."

Bee was the one to sigh this time, sending her own static over to Tifa. "I just... want to act like it never happened, okay?" she told Tifa, her voice sounding small even to her own ears, and she felt pathetic, "Please don't tell Cloud."

"Bee..." Tifa began to protest but Bee cut her off.

"I want to forget it," Bee said, a little harsher than she meant to. Shocked at her own forcefulness, she said, "I'm sorry, Tifa. I know you are concerned, but this is something I want to let go. Please?"

Bee watched a happy couple walk by the store this time, and she felt sick as she saw the woman smile up at the man and he leant down to kiss her softly. She turned away from the window completely, already tired of people watching.

"Okay," Tifa answered after some thought, "Okay, but only because this is something that you have to deal with yourself, not me."

"I know," Bee answered, looking down at her feet, which she had turned inward, the toe of her boots hitting each other in an awkward fashion. She looked up when the bell above her shop door rang, and she turned around again, seeing that an elderly man had walked into her shop. "Tifa, I have a customer, I'm sorry. I will come by the bar later okay?"

"Okay," Tifa answered, "Marlene misses you. You didn't get to see her yesterday because you were late."

"Yeah," Bee answered, "I can come play with her today, promise."

"Alright..." Tifa trailed off, unsure of how to end the conversation. Finally, she opted on saying, "You will be okay."

Bee frowned and watched the elderly man in her shop head over to her healing potion section. "I know," she told Tifa. "See you later."

After she had hung up, she wandered over to the man, a fake smile plastered on her face, and a spring in her step and greeted him. "Hello! You're interested in a potion? What specifically were you looking for...?"

* * *

The rest of the month went by normally. Bee sold enough of her potions to make a living, visited her patients after hours, and ended every night at 7th Heaven. Yuffie came back to Edge, and Bee was relieved to be able to hang out with someone other than Tifa. Bee loved Tifa, she really did, but Tifa had started treating Bee like a porcelain doll, afraid that the girl would break at any second. It drove Bee crazy; all she wanted to do was forget anything had ever happened, and Tifa's over-protectiveness was not helping.

Reno didn't come back to the bar again, and Bee had overheard Cloud mentioning that the Turks had returned to Wutai, their negotiations having not been finished because of the assassination attempts during the previous negotiations. Yuffie later confirmed this, telling Tifa that Godo had contacted her and wanted her help with Rufus. She had refused, taking it as a ploy to get her to return home and stating that she would rather kiss a cactuar on the mouth than deal with Rufus Shinra. Bee had laughed at this, but was secretly grateful that her friend wouldn't be leaving her anytime soon.

But still, Bee's thoughts often drifted to how Aerith would have reacted to Bee's sleeping with a stranger, had she still been around. The thoughts drove her mad, causing her to be sick to her stomach, and so Bee threw herself into her alchemy even more so than usual, creating complex potions, and even more intricate antidotes that could counteract the most resilient poisons. Instead of drinking at the bar, when Bee went to visit, she would hide up in Cloud and Tifa's apartment, playing with Marlene and Denzel, or teaching Shelke about basic human interactions, an activity that exhausted Bee by the time she was finished. Bee never went home drunk again after that night, never really touched a glass of alcohol unless Yuffie invited her to drink. When Bee had refused the first time, Yuffie had looked at her in suspicion. Bee never refused Yuffie again.

By the end of that month, the only thing to remind Bee of what had happened was Tifa's worried gaze. The martial artist thought that Bee didn't notice, but she wasn't stupid. When Bee turned around, Tifa was there, fawning over her as if she was sick. Cloud had noticed, but never questioned. Bee came to the conclusion that Cloud knew what had happened, but never brought up the subject. He had stopped by Bee's store ten days after that night, carrying Bee's denim jacket in his hand. Bee hadn't brought it back home, refusing to even look at the jacket whenever she left the bar.

Cloud walked slowly through the front door, waiting by the register when he noticed Bee helping out a customer who was looking over tranquilizers. She looked up when she heard the bell, saw Cloud, and held up a finger in a silent request for him to wait until she was finished. Then she saw the jacket, and Cloud couldn't help but notice that her face went pale, and she stuttered at the man she was helping. She turned back to the man, ignoring Cloud and the jacket until her customer had walked out of the store, a paper bag with a tranquilizer in hand.

"You left this at the bar the other week," Cloud told her, handing the jacket over to her.

She took it and nodded. "Yeah. I guess I just kept forgetting to bring it back," she said timidly, though Cloud could tell that she was trying her hardest to act normally. She was failing miserably.

"Tifa told me Reno was in the bar that night," Cloud told her, giving nothing away in his voice, but watching for Bee's reaction.

"Ah, yeah. He was," Bee answered, shoving the jacket under the counter. She laced her hands together on the counter top and fidgeted nervously from once foot to the next. Cloud pretended not to notice. "I had never met him before. He was different from what I had pictured a Turk to be like."

Cloud didn't point out that Bee had met Tseng before. Instead, he placed both of his hands on her shoulders, causing her to look up at him. Cloud had never thought she had looked so young in the entire time he had known her. Her hair was braided again, exactly the way it had been when he had first met her. He knew she did it that way because it reminded her of Aerith, and she had never really been able to copy her late friend's hair style completely. She was wearing blue again, her favorite color, and her face had flushed. Her twenty second birthday was in a few weeks, and Cloud remembered that was how old Aerith was when he had met her.

"You're a good kid, Bee," he told her. When she began to protest that she wasn't a kid, he cut her off and continued, "You work hard, and you always do your best, and you should be proud of yourself. But, you should be yourself. Aerith... is gone. I know that you want to live her life for her, but that doesn't mean that you have to _be_ her. Trust me on this, I know from experience."

Bee's face broke at this, and she looked down at the floor. "She was my idol..." she whispered sullenly to Cloud.

"I know," Cloud answered with a nod, "But even Aerith wasn't perfect. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone... has things they want forgiven in their lives. Aerith wasn't any different, and neither are you."

Cloud left after that, and as he walked out the door, Bee was reminded of how Zack had left her house in much the same way that Cloud was leaving her shop now. The door shut behind him, but his words echoed throughout Bee's head. He knew, Bee determined. He knew about Reno. But what concerned Bee wasn't the fact that Cloud knew, it was the fact that Cloud had said that Aerith had things she wanted forgiven. And for the life of her, Bee couldn't think of a single thing that Aerith could have possibly wanted to be forgiven for.

Cloud never mentioned anything of the sort again, and Bee never brought it up. His words did help, however, and Bee managed to get through the rest of the month feeling less ashamed of herself, and tried her hardest to ignore Tifa's worried looks.

Everything was going fine until the Turks came back to Edge.

To be more specific, they showed up at Busy Bee's Potions and Poultices at approximately 3:42 am.

Bee awoke to furious knocking on her shop door, and yells from outside. She bolted upright in her bed, her blanket thrown off of her in the process. She paused and listened to the yelling outside, and froze when she heard a familiar voice.

"Bee!" the voice yelled up at her, "Bee, you gotta open up right now! You hear me! Get your buggy ass down here!"

Sure enough, when Bee stuck her head out her open window, it was Reno who was standing outside her shop door, and he wasn't alone. Bee recognized Tseng with him, along with a female Turk, another male Turk, and a crumpled man in a white suit. Reno was looking up at the window and when he saw that Bee had poked her head out, he gestured at her to come down.

"Come on! I need an antidote and pronto, yo!" he yelled up to her, motioning to the man in the white suit who was being held up by both Tseng and the other man in the Turk uniform. "Get down here!"

Overcome by her shock at Reno's sudden appearance, Bee panicked and pulled back from the window, hitting her head on the top glass in the process. She yelped in pain, and rubbed the spot where she had hit, and walked over to her dresser so that she could pull out a pair of soft shorts. She quickly pulled them on, and pulled down on the tank top she was wearing so that it covered her stomach. She paused only once on her way downstairs, but continued on when she realized that her fear of seeing Reno again was less important than healing someone who was poisoned. Nobody's life was worth jeopardizing like that.

Bee ran to her front door after that, flinging it open and backing up swiftly so that Reno and the others could enter into the shop. "I have a cot behind the counter, lay him there," she ordered Tseng and the other Turk carrying the indisposed man. Reno lead the way, and helped the other two carefully lay Bee's new patient on the cot she had pointed out. She shut the door with a slam after they had all gone through, and rushed to the cot's side, looking down at the man laying there, and she gasped in surprise.

The man laying on her cot was none other than Rufus Shinra. She recognized him from WRO propaganda posters that tried to make Rufus look respectable, a way to get people used to the idea that Rufus was funding the WRO and had left his Shinra days behind him.

Really, Bee shouldn't have been that surprised. She knew that the Turks had gone to Wutai to protect Rufus, and that there had already been assassination attempts on him. What she didn't understand was why he was being brought to _her _if he had been poisoned in Wutai. It wasn't like her shop was all that close to the country.

Reno looked at her expectantly, and Bee decided to ask questions after she saved Rufus. She looked Rufus over once, taking in how pale he was and noticing that some of the veins in his neck had risen very close to the surface of his skin, appearing like blue spiders along his neck. Bee knelt to look closer, then turned to Reno.

"What poisoned him?" she demanded, looking at the other three too.

The Turk with the sunglasses quickly stuck a hand in his blazer pocket and withdrew it, his fist clenched. He moved forward to hand Bee what looked like a small dart. Bee brought it up to her face to inspect, taking in how small the needle was, and the yellow design on the side of the cartridge where the poison had been. She ran over to a second counter in the back of the store, close to where the cot was located under the stairs. The counter served as her work station for when she made her potions and such. She placed the dart down on a small plate and turned back to Reno.

"Go upstairs and get my bracelet with the materia on it. It's on my dresser. Be quick about it," she ordered, and watched as Reno nodded and dashed away. She ignored the other three and bent over her work counter, inspecting the dart again. She turned to a plate of instruments a little down the counter, and picked up a small knife that she used for cutting plants. She then went further down her work counter, to a pack of gloves, slipping them on both hands, making sure they didn't get caught on her three rings. She the dug the knife into the dart cartridge, slicing it in half. Careful to not touch the left over drop of poison sitting in the bottom of the cartridge, she carried the sliced open dart a few inches down the counter and stopped before a beaker that sat on a hotplate. She turned the hotplate on and waited until the water bubbled inside. Finally, she held the dart above the beaker, and watched as the single drop of poison fell into the boiling water below.

Reno had already returned with her bracelet when Bee turned back around to face the Turks again. He held it out to her and she took it with a nod of thanks and slipped it over her wrist before walking back to the cot. She knelt beside Rufus and held a hand over his heart, touching the fabric of his suit jacket gently. Her hand glowed in the darkness of the stair alcove and the Turks watched in fascination. Bee stayed beside Rufus with her hand glowing until she saw the veins recede in his neck, and some of the color returned to his face. However, Rufus's breathing became more labored, his chest rising and falling in a restless pattern. This didn't seem to concern Bee, the Turks noticed, for she stood and turned to them.

"I delayed the spread of the poison for now," she informed them, "But it is a very strong poison, and I cannot remove it from his system entirely right now."

"So, he'll die?" the woman asked her, her voice squeaking a bit.

Bee shook her head. "No. I can make an antidote. I just don't have any antidotes to counteract this specific poison made right now, so I used Poisona to stop the poison from spreading. I should be able to make an antidote within the next half hour provided that I can figure out what kind of poison was actually used. I've never really seen Wutain poison before."

"But you _can_ make an antidote?" Tseng asked her.

Bee nodded and began to walk back to her work counter. "Like I said, I _should _be able to. Making an antidote is basically just taking the poison in question and reverting it to a harmless state, then breaking it down and building it back up in a way that when injected into the human body, it creates an counteraction to the poison." She inspected the beaker she had left earlier, and when she didn't hear anyone respond, she turned back to look at them again, and couldn't help but laugh at the look on their faces. "It sounds harder than it is."

"I dunno..." Reno said with a shake of his head, "It sounds pretty hard to me."

Bee frowned at this, and the memory of telling Reno that she specialized in antidote making flashed through her head. She turned back to her beaker, which had turned a dark color now and said, "One of you should monitor Mr. Shinra's status. He will continue to breath pretty hard because the poison is moving so slowly through his heart, but his veins should not become so noticeable again. If that happens you should come get me. Otherwise, I'm going to work on the antidote. There is also a second cot folded up beside that one if one of you wants to go to sleep, and I have a couch upstairs you are also welcome to."

"I will monitor him," Tseng told her. Bee turned to nod at him and watched as he dragged the stool to the register counter over to the cot and sat down on it. The two Turks Bee didn't know stood awkwardly to the side, before Reno motioned for the woman to head upstairs. She refused at first, until finally Reno pushed her to the stairs, forcing her to take the couch and sleep for a while. The other Turk took the second cot, and dragged it across the room, away from Rufus and Tseng.

Which left just Reno, Bee noticed in aggravation. She turned back to her work, trying to ignore the fact that the red headed Turk had made a bee-line for the stool that Bee hadn't taken at her work counter. She always preferred to stand while she worked, only sitting down for the waiting parts. She ignored Reno, and turned off the hot plate below the beaker she had dripped the poison into. She was surprised that Reno sat quietly beside her as she set to work on creating an antidote, and that she was the one to break the silence between the two.

"Why did you bring him here?" Bee asked Reno, a sharp bite in her voice that she couldn't seem to keep down. She looked away from a second beaker when Reno gave a soft scoff at her.

"You said yourself, you specialize in antidote making," Reno explained, like it should have been obvious, "So, if my boss is poisoned by something even the Wutain themselves can't cure, who better to take him to?"

Bee looked up at him, eyebrows raised in surprise, her beaker forgotten. "You mean you _did_ take him to a doctor in Wutai first?"

"Well yeah," Reno said, nodding a bit. He had been watching Bee work, fascinated by how quickly the girl was moving and how easily she moved about her work counter. When Bee stopped working, he had nothing to look at besides her now, so he inspected her face, noticing how tired she looked and the fact that she still had bed head. "Rough night?"

Bee scowled and turned back to her work, determined to not look at Reno again. "Yeah, well, some idiot woke me up pretty early in the morning to work on a near impossible task."

Reno gave a short laugh and watched as Bee emptied both of her beakers into a small bowl, and placed a glowing hand over it. "Sounds like a good time to me," he told her sarcastically.

"Then you have a pretty messed up sense of a good time," Bee retorted, barely even paying attention to Reno anymore, she was so submerged in her work. They sat in silence again as Bee hustled back and forth, up and down her work counter, grabbing a phial of this, cutting a stem of that. The beaker she had emptied into her bowl was full again with a strange brown liquid. Bee held her hand over the beaker, and it glowed again. Reno watched this with interest.

"What are you doing?" Reno asked curiously, pointing to Bee's glowing hand, "What magic are you using on an _antidote_?"

"It's something I picked up during my apprenticeship," Bee explained, focusing on her magic-casting, "You can cast magic on inanimate objects, but that doesn't always mean something will happen. However, when it comes to making potions and antidotes, if your materia is experienced enough, you can cast a spell while you are creating something to make it more potent. For example, if you cast poisona on an antidote, or cure on a potion, it works more effectively."

"That's something you just _picked up_?" Reno asked incredulously, looking at the girl next to him in disbelief, "What did you do, just decide to cast magic on things at random?"

Bee frowned up at him, over her beaker. She finished casting her magic and walked down the counter a bit and crouched down, shifting through a group of boxes stacked neatly under the counter. She lifted the flaps of the one on the far left, and pulled out a syringe, still sealed in a plastic cover. She carried it back with her to the beaker, and turned back to Reno.

"Don't be stupid," she said_, _waving a hand at him dismissively and then opening the plastic around the syringe she held, "It was a simple alchemy theory that I tested in a carefully calculated experiment. It just happened to be that my theory was correct, and my potions became that much more effective."

"You don't even sound like that little bug in the bar when you say stuff like that," Reno told her casually, leaning his elbows on the countertop.

Bee shot him a glare and one of the biggest frowns he had ever seen in his life, and he had seen a lot of frowns in his line of work. "I was drunk," she said through gritted teeth, leaving the unwrapped syringe forgotten on the counter.

Reno shrugged, and pointed at the syringe. "Weren't you doing something?" he asked with a smile, causing Bee's eyes to narrow even further than they already were, but she didn't comment back and turned back to the needle. She carefully picked it up, flipped it over her beaker, and dipped it into the liquid, sucking it up until the syringe was halfway full.

"This should be enough," she muttered, bringing the needle closer to her face, and looking it up and down. She nodded to herself and walked past Reno, heading towards Rufus and Tseng. "How is he?"

Tseng looked up at her, having focused his attention on Rufus for most of the time that Bee had been working on the antidote. "His breathing hasn't changed," the head Turk informed her.

"That's normal," Bee said with a nod, moving closer to her patient and inspecting his neck. She was pleased to find that his veins had remained normal the entire time. She grabbed Rufus's arm and rolled up his jacket sleeve. "Normally, I would have my patient just drink the antidote, letting it absorb into the blood stream through the stomach. But seeing as how Mr. Shinra is so indisposed, and his poison is so strong, I made a dose that I can just inject into his system directly." Without further explanation, Bee plunged the needle into Rufus's arm, and pushed down on the syringe head. She watched until all of the brown liquid was gone, and then pulled the needle out of his arm. She hurried back to her counter, threw away the needle into a trash can that was under it, and grabbed a small square of gauze out of a cabinet on the far right of the counter. She brought it back to Rufus and wiped his arm thoroughly, then went an threw the gauze and her gloves away as well.

"Will he be okay, now?" Reno asked, watching as Rufus's breathing slowly began to return to normal.

Bee nodded, walking back over and then holding Rufus's wrist in her hand, feeling his heartbeat. "Yeah," she said, opening an eyelid and peering into Rufus's pupil, seeing that it was dilating normally. Finally, she took in the color of his cheeks and nodded again to herself before continuing, "He seems to be returning back to normal. It will take an hour or two for my antidote to completely make its way through his system, but from what I can see right now, it's working."

She walked back to her work counter and poured the rest of the contents of her beaker into a smaller phial, capping it as she walked back to Tseng. She handed it over to him and he took it and stuck it into his jacket pocket. "If it seems that by night time he still hasn't recovered fully, you can give him more of that. It won't hurt him even if the poison is completely gone, so if you want to be safe, you can give it to him anyway."

Tseng nodded at her and looked back to Rufus. "What should we do now?" he asked her, unsure of whether or not to move Rufus.

"Let him sleep," Bee told him with a shrug. She crossed her arms over her chest, and looked back down at Rufus as well. "Keeping him still is the best way to get the antidote through his system faster, and honestly he is probably exhausted from fighting off the poison as long as he did. I can't believe you made it back here without him dying. That poison was extremely powerful, I've never seen anything like it."

"The docs in Wutai cast poisona on him, like you did," Reno told her, catching her attention, "Like you said, it slowed down the spread of the poison, but they didn't have any antidote to cure it, and didn't know how to make it. The poison came from a rebel faction in Wutai. Those rebels must have created the poison themselves."

Bee frowned and furrowed her eyebrows in thought. She had never really interacted with Wutain poison before, but she was still surprised that there was a poison from that country that their own alchemists could not create an antidote for. That was troubling to her.

"What is wrong?" Tseng asked, noticing that Bee had been contemplating what Reno told her.

"It's just..." Bee trailed off, trying to think of a way to explain what she had been thinking. She turned back to Rufus and began again, "It's just that most poisons have an antidote already in existence. I pride myself in making antidotes, but I've never encountered this before. When I was in my apprenticeship, my teacher would often make me make antidotes from scratch, not having learned how to make them before. It was how I learned how antidotes were originally created. I'm really good at it. But a poison this strong that its country of origin didn't even know how to counteract is extremely concerning. Whoever created it is a very talented alchemist."

"Well... You're obviously more talented," Reno said with a shrug, unconcerned with Bee's trepidation. Rufus was healed, and that was really all he cared about.

Bee looked at him with sad eyes, taking Reno by surprise, his smile slipping from his face. The last thing Bee wanted was Reno's compliments, or even for Reno to be there. She turned from him and headed up the stairs towards her flat.

"One of you can take the floor in the living room. There are blankets in the closet in the hallway. The other should watch over Rufus, just in case. I want you all gone by sunrise. My hospitality for Shinra employees only goes so far," she told them over her shoulder. The two Turks watched as she disappeared up the stairs, and they did not see her again the rest of the night.

They were gone in the morning, just as Bee had asked them to. On the counter, beside the register, was a letter of credit, approving Bee to take 10,000 gil out of a secured bank account in Rufus's name, with his signature and spare Shinra ID taped to the bottom. Bee promptly ripped the paper up into tiny little pieces, and threw the pieces along with the ID into her trash can, then stared at it in silence for almost an hour. She refused to take money for saving someone's life, even if it was the life of Rufus Shinra.


	4. GoodyTwoShoes

A/N: for more info on my story please head to my profile!

please review to encourage me to continue posting :) I would like to thank the few anonymous reviewers that I had for the last chapter. I try to respond to every review that I get, so if I ever get a review from a nonmember, I will thank them before the next chapter.

* * *

Chapter 4: Goody-Two-Shoes

Shinra had always been a symbol of disdain in Bee's life. The company ruled the plate, and left nothing for the people of the slums. The Turks hunted Aerith on a daily basis, and even as a child, Bee knew to fear the ones in the black suits. It was not until Bee had met Zack that Bee started to look at Shinra in a different light.

Zack represented everything a hero should be in Bee's eyes. He was strong, kind, and optimistic. He never felt that it was too annoying to stop and help a slum-dweller. Bee had often caught him escorting a child home at night after he had left Aerith to return back to the plate. He never looked down on Bee or her family. He was Bee's brother's idol.

Bee's brother, Toby, was fourteen when he first met Zack. While Bee never really saw Zack, Toby saw the SOLDIER almost as much as Aerith did. Zack had become Toby's unofficial mentor, teaching the younger boy how to swing a sword properly, how to do squats the right way, and how to take care of others. Toby looked up to Zack more than anyone else, and he took Zack's disappearance harder than almost anyone, except for Aerith.

"He's not gone!" Toby yelled at Bee, after she had told him that she felt Zack was not coming back. "How can you say that? Zack is a hero! He wouldn't leave Aerith like that!"

"I didn't say he would!" Bee argued back, hurt that her older brother had yelled at her so aggressively, "I don't think he would ever leave Aerith on purpose. But he's been gone for so long! He works for Shinra! They're bad, Toby. They probably did something to Zack because he was such a good person. They don't like good people."

"How can you say that!" Toby yelled back, seething in anger at his sister, "Look at everything SOLDIER has done! Zack is a hero! And I'm going to be just like him!"

Bee watched in horror as Toby headed for the front door, swinging it open so hard that the doorknob hit the wall behind it. "Stop!" Bee yelled, running after her brother. She grabbed hold of his sleeve and dug her heels into the ground in an attempt to stop him from leaving. "Where are you going?!"

"To Shinra," he told her, shrugging of her grasp easily and continuing out the door, "I'm going to become a SOLDIER and bring Zack back. You'll see that he's fine, and I'll become a hero just like him!"

"No! Toby! Come back!" Bee yelled desperately at her brother, but he never turned around. Bee watched helplessly as he walked out of Sector 4 and out of her life, for good.

Toby didn't return to the slums for several years. Aerith had already left Midgar by this point, and Bee had taken to staying in her bedroom at all hours of the day. She was laying in bed when she heard the front door shut, and she sat up in confusion. Her mother didn't usually come home for several more hours as she worked all day to support Bee. When Bee heard creaking on the staircase, she knew it was not her mom. Her mom never made noise coming up the stairs as she was afraid that she would bother Bee with the noise. Bee sprinted from her bed and ran to her bedroom door, prying it open as fast as she could. She yelled in surprise when she saw a tall man standing in her doorway, his fist raised as if to knock.

"Sis?" the man asked, looking down at her with raised brows.

Bee paused and looked up at the man, and recognition dawned on her face. The man standing before her was none other than Toby. Bee backed up into her bedroom, looking Toby up and down in surprise. He had gotten much taller, and much more muscular. His hair had grown longer as well, and his eyes had changed color.

"You... you made it into SOLDIER," Bee said, shocked at her visitor. His Mako tinged eyes scared her more than she thought they should have.

"That's right! Second-class, but I'm aiming to get to First-class, just like Zack," Toby said proudly, making a fist with his hands. He smiled down at his sister and motioned for her to come closer. "Come here and give your big brother a hug!"

Bee ignored his awaiting arms and backed up from him even more, causing him to frown. Instead, Bee asked, "Did you go see mom?"

Toby dropped his arms, still frowning and shook his head. "No, not yet," he told her, "I didn't want to bother her while she was at the bakery. She works so hard."

"Well, you didn't even say goodbye to her when you left, so you'd think that the first thing that you would do when you finally came to see us would be to say hi to her..." Bee growled out, her anger more apparent now. She turned away from her brother and walked back to her bed and laid down, turning on her side so that she couldn't see him.

"I will say hi," Toby told her, following her into the room. He paused at Bee's desk, taking in all the plants and phials she had. Beside the desk was a large book on basic antidotes and potions, and on a shelf above the desk were bottle upon bottles of Bee's finished products. "You're an alchemist now?"

"Yeah, I took on an apprenticeship with Mr. Hadel down the street," Bee mumbled to him, never turning back around in her bed, "You would know that if you were around more."

"Oh, come on, sis," Toby drawled, walking over to Bee's bed and sitting down beside her, "I would if I could but I have a really great chance of becoming First-class! But that means I have to train really hard everyday, I don't have time for slum visits."

"You used to live in the slums, you know," Bee informed him angrily. She finally turned onto her back, looking up at the man that her brother had become. She couldn't deny that he looked happier than he ever had in the slums. But he had left his family behind to go work for company that did horrible things. "You left us! You left me and mom and you didn't come back! You left us to chase after a stupid dream that will never come true! Zack still isn't back, Toby! Where do you think he went? The Turks were monitoring Aerith even more after that he's gone, and she was scared!They took her, Toby! You should have been here to protect her! To protect me and mom!" Bee sat up and angrily poked her brother in the chest. "Shinra is killing the planet! They will suck it dry and we will have nothing left! They don't care about us! And you're helping them! You're helping the people that took Aerith away!"

Bee went to poke Toby in the chest again, but he caught her, and squeezed her hand, cutting off her circulation. She tried to pull back, but he was stronger than her, and he refused to let go.

"You don't know anything," Toby spat back angrily, "Zack would never have worked for Shinra if he didn't believe they were doing good in the world!"

"Yes he would have!" Bee argued back, prying her finger back and rubbing it, "Everyone joins SOLDIER thinking that they are doing good, but then they see just how corrupt the company is. They do things like hunt little girls like Aerith! I bet Zack disappeared because he ran from the company!"

Toby stood, and spun angrily towards the door. "You have no idea what you're saying! You're too young to understand!" he yelled at her.

"Too young?!" Bee screamed at him, "I was forced to grow up the moment you left your family!"

The look in Toby's eyes would forever be burnt into Bee's memories. She had never been so afraid of someone her entire life. The Mako in his eyes seemed to burn with his anger, as he managed to growl out, "Maybe it was a good thing I left. Who wants a family that doesn't believe in them?" With that, he left, slamming both Bee's bedroom door and the front door. Bee watched through her bedroom window as he stomped his way out of the slums, this time for good.

Bee never told her mother that Toby had showed up that day. Instead, she continued to stay in her room, trying to pretend that the visit had never happened. It was easy to forget, as Bee never saw her brother again after that day. Like Zack, he had disappeared and his role as SOLDIER was forgotten by many. When the Shinra building had exploded, Bee assumed that her brother had been killed, along with most of the Shinra employees that had been there. She never went to look for him, like she had looked for her mother after Meteorfall. She never talked to Cloud or Tifa about him, though they knew she had had a brother at one time. Eventually, it was as though he had never existed. Bee had started a new life in Edge, one without Toby, her mother, Zack, or Aerith. She came to resent Shinra, for taking Zack away, for killing her mother, for killing Aerith, for taking her brother away. Hearing what had happened to Zack and Cloud only fueled this resentment in to full boiled hatred. She thought that she would never have to deal with anything Shinra again.

That was, until Reno had walked into that bar and sat down next to her.

* * *

The ringing of Bee's phone knocked her out of her reverie. She honestly hadn't thought about her brother in a very long time. She tried not to think about him, and how badly their relationship had become by the time she had last seen him. She remembered the times when Toby had been Aerith's and Bee's sworn protector, and he had often initiated the escapes they made from the Turks' grasps. But those times were long gone, and Bee was grateful for the phone call to distract her.

"Busy Bee's Potions and Poultices, this is Bee, how can I help you?" Bee answered, as was her customary response when she received a phone call during her shop hours. Tifa was really the only one that ever called her outside of her patients. If Yuffie needed her, she tended to just drop by the store unannounced, or slip in through the open bedroom window when the shop was closed. Otherwise, everyone else would send her a small text, letting her know they were in Edge if she wanted to see them.

"Bee," came a familiar voice on the other line. Bee raised an eyebrow in surprise. She wasn't aware that Cloud had given out her number. "This is Reeve Tuesti, I'm the president of the WRO, and a friend of Cloud's."

"I know who you are," Bee answered back, moving to sit on the stool by the register counter. It had been a slow day, Bee had only sold about four potions or so. "We've met before too, you know."

"Yes," Reeve answered back, "But I wasn't sure if you had remembered. I'm not around as often as the others."

"I know," Bee told him, "I have a good memory. Did you need something? I doubt you called to see how I was, especially if you felt the need to remind me of who you were..."

Reeve chuckled at that and Bee heard him take a deep breath before he continued, "Cloud told me that I probably shouldn't call you, but I had to at least try."

"Try what...?" Bee didn't like the sound of this. She listened for Reeve to continue as she looked out the window, tapping her fingers on the counter top. It was a nice day out, and her visits to her patients' houses would be pleasant.

"Rufus informed me that you saved his life recently," Reeve said. Bee's fingers froze and she sat up straighter on her stool.

"Yes..."

"Reno the Turk reported that you made an antidote for the poison running through Rufus in a less than an hour, something that the doctors of Wutai could not do. He expressed how easy it was for you to do, and ensures me that nobody else on the planet would have been able to it." Reeve paused here, waiting for Bee to respond in some way, and Reeve hoped it was an affirmative.

"He doesn't know what he's talking about," Bee told him quickly, not liking where the conversation was going.

"No," Reeve said sternly, "Tseng reports the same thing, though Reno's report is more detailed. Cloud informs me that you know Reno and Tseng. They assured me that they were not lying and would not recommend you over a fallacy."

"Recommend me for what?" Bee asked sharply. Her fist was clenched now, on the counter top, and for a moment, she forgot how to breath.

"I want to employ you," Reeve explained, "I want you to mass produce that antidote for my armies. A rebel group has risen in Wutai, and Lord Godo has requested help. He was impressed with how we handled the Deepground situation, and wants to form an alliance with the WRO. We need your antidote if we want to fight the rebels."

Bee had never wanted to strangle someone so badly as she wanted to strangle Reno right then. She knew healing Rufus would have consequences, she just didn't realize how deep they would be.

"I already have a responsibility to my shop, and the sick people of Edge. I'm sorry, but I can't help you." Bee basically spit the words out before hanging up, leaving no time for Reeve to protest. She ran upstairs and threw her phone into her laundry basket, burying it in the clothes so that she wouldn't hear or see it for the rest of the night.

The burying of the phone, however, turned out to not be the best idea Bee had ever had, as she hadn't thought about the fact that if Reeve couldn't get in touch with Bee through phone, someone would come in person. That person just happened to be Reno.

He sauntered into the shop the next day, his hands in his pockets, completely unabashed about entering the place where he had had a one night stand. To make matters worse, he smiled at Bee, nodding his head at her as he made his way to the register counter where Bee was ringing a customer up.

"What'd ya buy?" Reno asked the woman at the counter. She looked up at him in surprise, but answered anyway.

"An antidote for cactuar poisoning," she told Reno, taking her change from Bee.

Reno ignored the glare Bee was giving him, and nodded at the woman in an exaggerated fashion. He pointed at Bee and said, "Good choice. She makes the best antidotes on the planet, ya know." He leaned over the counter, bringing himself closer to Bee, who continued to glare at him with hate in her eyes.

The woman finally smiled at this, agreed with Reno, thanked Bee, and then left the store, her smile still on her face. Reno laughed after the door shut behind the customer and turned back to Bee. "Missed me?" he asked her smugly.

"Get. Out." Bee told him through clenched teeth. She radiated anger, but Reno didn't take the hint, and laughed again, outraging Bee even more.

"Sorry, no can do, little bug," Reno told her with a shake of his head. He pushed himself off the counter and walked around it to sit on the cot that Rufus had laid on just two days before. "Reeve sent me here. He's very determined to get your help, yo."

"I already told him no," Bee informed him, never leaving her spot behind the counter. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared Reno down, even though she knew it wouldn't bother him in the least.

"Yeah, yeah. He said that," Reno said with a shrug, "And then you didn't answer any of the other calls he made. Ya know, Rufus even tried calling you, but you ignored him too."

"Am I supposed to be _flattered_?" Bee questioned sarcastically. Again, Reno shrugged and Bee felt like she was going to explode from her anger.

"I would be, if I were you," Reno told her, pointing at her accusingly, "He said you still haven't taken the money out of his account."

"And I'm not going to. I ripped the paper up and threw it out. The ID too." She pointed to the trashcan behind Reno, but he ignored her. Instead, he stood and walked closer to her, forcing her to back up against the counter. He didn't stop though, even when her back hit the counter and she couldn't back up anymore. He paced both of his hands on the counter on either side of her and leaned down so that they were at eye level.

"You should have taken the money," he advised, his voice lowering an octave.

Bee had to swallow before she could speak. "I don't want any money from that man." She cursed herself for how weak her voice sounded, and then cursed Reno for the smug smile he gave her in return.

"That man is trying to create an alliance with a country that once hated us," Reno told her, "You're going to help him."

"I will never help Rufus Shinra ever again," Bee told him, her voice returning to normal. She stood up taller, catching Reno off-guard a bit, though he never backed away from her. "I only helped him because he was dying. I don't owe him anything."

"You're right!" Reno agreed with a nod of his head. Bee looked at him in shock as he continued, "You don't owe him anything, he owes you. And he owes the planet. But... you do owe Tifa and Cloud, don't you? They took you in, right?"

"What does that matter?" Bee asked in confusion. It wasn't like they were the ones making the negotiations. If anything, bringing Yuffie into the conversation made more sense, it was her country after all.

"Well, you see, your friends are going to be fighting in the battle against the Wutain rebels. You wouldn't want them to die of poison, would you?" Reno asked innocently. He grinned down at Bee again as he saw her face go from anger to horror at Reno's question. "I didn't think so. That's why you're going to help us make those antidotes."

Reno didn't expect the slap that came to the side of his face. However, he did expect the furious yelling that came from Bee. "This is all your fault!" she screamed at him, pushing him away from her, "If you hadn't walked into the bar that night, none of this would be happening! You wouldn't have known about my antidotes, you wouldn't have brought Rufus Shinra into my shop! I wouldn't be forced to do something for that evil man!" Bee's chest heaved from her anger, surprising even herself with her outburst. She watched as Reno rubbed the cheek that she had slapped, and felt the tiniest twinge of guilt inside her.

"You know you're not really mad about that," he told her nonchalantly, dropping the hand that been rubbing his face to his side, and moving forward towards Bee again. Once more, he pinned her to the counter behind her. "I asked around, and found out that you picture yourself as a goody-two-shoes, a hard worker who's whole goal in life is to help those in need. While this is admirable, really it is, it leaves room for one big imperfection."

Reno's face leveled with Bee's again and he brought it as close as her could to her without actually touching her. He smiled at her again, and watched as her gray eyes widened to an impossible size. She lost her breath and he started to speak again.

"You can't stand it when you feel as though you've done something wrong," he told her, his eyes roaming over her face, "And so you try to blame everyone but yourself, because in your head, you can never do anything wrong. Well, I've got news for you, little bug. I may have left in the morning before you woke up, but I wasn't the one to ask to come back to your place."

"What?" Bee asked in a whisper, unable to raise her voice any higher.

"That's right," Reno said with a nod, "I was actually just going to walk you home, I didn't want Cloud on my ass about you, but you were the one who asked for me to come in with you. You don't remember? Or you don't want to admit to yourself that you were the one who made the decision to sleep with me, already knowing before hand that I was a Turk, and that I would most likely leave in the morning?"

"You're lying." It was a last ditch effort, and Bee knew it. Why would Reno lie to her? He had no reason to. He probably didn't care if Bee hated him, she was nothing to him. If he had wanted to, he could have never had to see her again. He could have just sex with her and then left. Instead, she was the one who had offered, and that was why he was still coming around. He had nothing to be ashamed of, not that she really thought he would have been anyway. However, Reno would have most likely avoided seeing her again at least, dropping her completely from his life. He would have had his fun and been done with her. But now, Bee realized, this was not the case, and Reno had no reason to stay away.

"I can tell that you know I'm not," he told her, getting impossibly closer to her and smiling at the fact that he was making her squirm. "I mean, I won't deny that I didn't want it too, and no, I didn't try very hard to dissuade you. But don't go blaming me for something that you did all on your own. It takes two to do what we did, and I didn't force you to do anything. Yes, you were drunk, maybe you wouldn't have done that sober, but I always believe that people do things when they're drunk that they don't have the courage to do when sober. And weren't you the one who said you weren't a saint?"

"I didn't mean that I go around having meaningless sex with people!" Bee told him in what she tried to make an angry tone, but he was just so close to her, and she noticed how red his hair was again. How beautiful he was up close. Bee froze and watched as Reno's smile widened at her.

"See?" he asked her cockily, "You can't deny that even now, you want me."

"I don't have flings," she told him, trying to convince herself at the same time.

"I didn't say that you did," he told her with a shake of his head, "I just simply wanted to get you to stop blaming me for something that you instigated. Listen, I'm sorry you don't like the fact that we slept together. But I will not apologize and be blamed for something that I didn't do. Got it?"

"Is that why you came, then?" Bee asked him, finally finding her voice, though she couldn't tear her eyes away from his own sea-green ones. "Why didn't Tseng come?"

"Ah!" Reno exclaimed, nodding in approval, "Very good! That is why I volunteered for this meeting. Can't have you hating me while we work together, can I?" He beamed at Bee's obvious frustration, and continued when she didn't say anything, "Great! Glad you agree. Cloud and Tifa will be happy to know that they and your friends will have your protection. Reeve will call you with details, so pick up your phone this time, okay?"

Bee watched in astonishment as he pushed himself off the counter and away from her, then walked around to the front entrance. He pulled the door open and was just about the leave when he hesitated, and turned back around to Bee.

"Just so you know..." he said, his smug smile returning to his face, "I would do that night all over again if I could. You are the best damn thing I've had in Edge so far."

He left after that, shutting the door behind him and walking past the window, never turning to see that Bee had remained frozen in place, her face flushed a bright red and her heart racing in her rib cage.

* * *

A/N: I just noticed that this chapter is also pretty short. I'm really sorry, they tend to be longer as they story goes on.

I'm also very surprised nobody asked me how Bee managed to stay alive with the stigma for two years. I thought for sure somebody was going to tell me she should have died. Either way, that is addressed much later on in the story.

Thank you for reading!


	5. She Lives On Inside Us

A/N: for more info on this story go to my profile!

* * *

Chapter 5: She Lives On Inside Us

Busy Bee's Potions and Poultices closed early that day, and phone calls were sent out to let people know that their healer would not be able to come see them either. Potential customers walked by the shop after seeing the CLOSED sign on the door, but the owner didn't care. She was too busy laying in bed crying and feeling sorry for herself to really care what anyone else was feeling at that moment.

Bee had never felt so pathetic in her whole life. One visit from Reno had unravelled her completely, leaving her in a crying heap on the floor of her shop, just as he had the first time he had left her shop. He had been one-hundred-percent right when he had told her that she couldn't blame him for what had happened, and Bee knew that that was exactly what she had done. She never believed herself capable of making such a bad decision, even while drunk.

Her whole life, Bee had tried to emanate Aerith's kindness, and her do-good lifestyle, with the idea that if she could be like Aerith, then it was like Aerith had never died. Cloud had seen it, as he had done the same thing, albeit more drastically than Bee had done. And he had tried to warn Bee that she was doing it, and she had not listened.

The guilt still racked through her, despite everything Bee told herself. As she laid in bed, she couldn't help but feel horrible, not just over the fact that she had been the one to invite Reno over, but also over the fact that she had blamed him for something she had done. Reno's words slowly cleared up the events of that night, and she began to remember pulling on Reno when they reached her shop, dragging him across her door step. He had protested, though not very strongly, just as he had admitted to her. It was Bee that had jumped on Reno, not Reno who had lifted her. And it was Bee who had thrown his blazer onto the ground, allowing him to do the same to her shirt.

The revelation was just too much for Bee, and she was forced to admit that, yes, she had wanted Reno more than she had ever wanted a person before in her life. Her past two boyfriends had had nothing on the way his hair fell behind his back when she had undone it from its ponytail, nothing on the way his eyes roved over her body, silently worshiping her every move, nothing on the way he cradled her in his strong arms, securing her in place so that she couldn't slip away. Even before they had made it back to her place, she had been mesmerized by the red of his hair, the glow of his eyes, the pallor of his skin, and the feel of his hand in hers. He had taken care to make sure she had not stepped in any puddles on their walk, a gesture that had flattered her, made her feel wanted. He had caught her when she had tripped over a bump in the side walk, gently righting her and checking to make sure she had not hurt her foot. No man had ever made her heart beat so fast, made her feel her blood cascading through her veins so thoroughly as he had that night.

What Bee couldn't decide, however, was whether or not she had just wanted Reno that night, knowing that it would really be just a one night stand, or if she had actually hoped that he would be there when she woke up, like she had originally thought. Either factor scared her; if she had intended on a one night stand, she would have to face the shame of knowing that she had acted against her own morals, and if she had wanted Reno there when she woke up, she would have to figure out if she had actual feelings for a Turk, a thought that contradicted her whole being.

It was that thought that forced Bee to really think, maybe she wasn't as good as she thought she was. Really, what had possessed her to sleep with Reno, a Turk, a member of Shinra, one of the men who had helped in the kidnapping of Aerith? She had no answer to this, no sound conclusion or excuse for her actions, and this scared her. Reno was right, she pictured herself in such a way that when presented with an image the opposite, she fell to pieces. She had no idea how to handle this revelation, how to even begin to comprehend that maybe there was another side to her that she had not really known, a side that Aerith would be ashamed of.

So, Bee cried in her bed, trying desperately to forget about the way that man had made her feel that night.

* * *

Reeve called the next day, just as Reno said he would. Bee answered her phone this time, moving from her bed to dig into her laundry basket to grab it. She flung a pair of underwear off it, and flipped the phone open just before her voicemail would have gone off.

"I'm here," she said groggily into the phone. She cleared her throat quickly and added, "I'm sorry I didn't answer before."

"I understand, Bee," Reeve said, his voice gentle, "Cloud had already warned me that you would."

"He did?" Bee asked curiously. She moved to the hallway and padded gently to the kitchen where she prepared a pot of coffee and took some eggs out of her fridge. "What exactly did he tell you?"

She had to wait a bit before Reeve plucked up the courage to answer her question. "He just... explained that you really don't like Shinra. Which is normal, most people don't like Shinra."

Bee cut him off. "He told you about my brother and Aerith, didn't he?"

"...Yes," Reeve finally conceded. "Please don't be upset with him, he only wanted me to understand."

"It doesn't matter," Bee told Reeve, trying to pacify the worried man. "He doesn't know the full story about my brother anyway."

"Your brother..." Reeve said thoughtfully, "He was in SOLDIER, right?"

"Second-class," Bee affirmed, "Why?"

"You don't know what happened to him after Meteorfall. I have access to SOLDIER files. I can go through and look to see where he was stationed on that day. Maybe he wasn't in Midgar that day. He could have survived," Reeve told her quickly, happy with his sudden stroke of brilliance.

"You... could find my brother?" Bee asked him. Her heart throbbed painfully in a way that she had not felt in some time. The thought of seeing her brother again was not something Bee ever thought could be possible. She had given up on seeing him ever again after he left on the day of their argument. Bee didn't even know how to process what Reeve was saying to her now.

"Maybe," Reeve corrected her, "If he was still in Midgar on the day of Meteorfall, he is most likely dead. He would have been in the Shinra building when it exploded. But if he was away on an assignment, he could very well still be alive. What was his name?"

"Toby," Bee answered breathlessly. She had frozen in the middle of her kitchen, her whole body going numb at Reeve's suggestion. She slowly began to walk again, lowering herself into a kitchen chair and going limp when she felt the wood on the back of her legs.

"Last name?"

"I don't know," Bee answered truthfully, "My father and mother were both born and raised in the slums. They never really had last names. Not many slum dwellers did. After my dad died, it just seemed even more pointless to take a last name."

"Hmm..." Reeve mulled over what Bee had told him before answering, "Well, Toby isn't the most common of names, and not too many people make it into SOLDIER. Hopefully, the first name will be enough to find his file. It could take a while, though. A lot of the data on SOLDIER was damaged when the head quarters exploded. I managed to get some of it before it was all gone, but it will be harder to work my way through."

"That's okay," Bee said in understanding, "You're very busy with the conflict in Wutai right now too."

"Which brings us back to the main reason I called," Reeve said happily, "We are having a meeting at headquarters in two days that I would like for you to attend. Cloud, Tifa, and the rest will be there and they agreed to bring you as well. Cid is picking everyone up tomorrow in _The Shera_."

"What is the meeting about?" Bee had finally found the strength to stand again, and went back to the fridge, grabbing the eggs again and bringing them to her stove top. She poured herself a mug of coffee, mixing in sugar and milk, then scouring her cabinet for a clean pan to cook her eggs in.

"We will be discussing how to deal with the rebel faction in Wutai," Reeve explained patiently, "Cid has volunteered his air ship for an air raid, and Vincent already has experience leading our armies on the ground. We had the Turks find the rebel base on their last visit to Wutai, which was how Rufus ended up in your shop."

"They were caught?" Bee asked in surprise. She couldn't really picture the almighty Turks being caught on a reconnaissance mission. She was mixing her eggs in a bowl now, adding a bit of milk before pouring them onto the pan she had managed to find. They sizzled on the hot metal, and Bee watched as the yellow and white swirled together like an early sunrise.

"Unfortunately," Reeve admitted, his voice betraying his worry, "Which means that the rebels know we are coming now. They have probably prepared thousands of those poison darts by now. We need you, Bee."

Bee sighed over her eggs, and nodded in thought. "I know. I will be there. Let Cid know that he has another passenger on his ship."

"I will," Reeve said, gratitude dripping from every word as he thanked her, "Thank you, Bee. I promise to work hard on finding your brother for you. I will see you in two days time."

"Right," Bee agreed, "See you then." She hung up the phone then, placing it on the counter beside her, and turned back to her eggs. They had finally started to cook, puffing up like yellow clouds in the pan, sticking to the metal in some places. She mixed them around quickly, and pondered over how easily they were lifted and shifted to new places.

* * *

"_The Shera_ fixed up nicely, Cid."

"Damn straight. No stupid Deepground could keep this girl down!"

Bee snorted at Cid's exclamation and watched Tifa continue to talk to the pilot. She was perched on a beam that ran the length of the ceiling above the bridge of the airship, and she had a perfect view of everyone on the ship. She had only been on it once before when the group took a small trip to Gongaga, bringing Bee to meet Zack's family, but that one trip had been enough for Bee to find her way into the rafters, high above everybody else. She had always liked the thought of being able to see everything going on in the room, picking and choosing which conversations to listen in to. She had done it at Aerith's church as well, but she had fallen a lot, like when she had fallen onto Tseng the first time they had met. She had gotten much better at it in the years since then, and she had taken the first opportunity to leave the chatter of the room behind.

"Yuffie down in the engine room again?" Cid asked Tifa. Bee watched as Tifa nodded and smiled at him.

"Yeah, she says the rumbling of the engine helps her feel better," Tifa explained.

"Well, she's gonna be stuck down there for a little while," Cid said gruffly, turning the wheel of his ship.

The trip would take most of the day, Bee remembered Cid had told her before they had taken off. Bee had risen early that morning, packed a bag of clothes and toiletries, and left for the 7th Heaven, locking up the shop behind her. Cid was already there, and yelled at her for taking so long. She had laughed his comment off, noticing that Yuffie wasn't ready yet, as usual. The others greeted her, and she went to stand with Tifa, placing her bag on the ground.

"Are you ready?" Tifa asked her expectantly.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Bee said nervously, "I don't like having to go to a meeting where I'm negotiating working with Shinra."

"You aren't working with Shinra," Tifa said with a frown, "You're working for Reeve, Yuffie, and Vincent. You have to look at it like that."

"Yeah..." Bee said timidly, nodded a bit, "I guess so."

So that was what she told herself when she stepped onto _The Shera _a half hour later. She had only met Reeve once or twice, but from what Tifa and Yuffie had told her, the man seemed like a good person who really wanted to change the world for the better. Besides, he had said he would help her find her brother...

"You and your rafters," Cloud's voice said, startling Bee away from Tifa and Cid's conversation. She turned to her right to see Cloud walking over the beam Bee sat on until he reached her. He sat down beside her and looked down at his other friends.

Bee smiled at him and nodded, "There's something thrilling about being up so high," she told him cheerfully. The two sat in comfortable silence looking down on their friends below. Bee observed as Marlene and Denzel ran around, playing tag on the ship, and Shelke and Vincent talked quietly in a corner. The younger three had come along for this trip, having no one else to watch them with Bee being included this time. When the group had gone to face Deepground, Bee had babysat Marlene and Denzel. Bee smiled when she saw that Marlene had run over to Shelke, grabbed the former Tsviet's hand, and pulled her along to play with the other two. Shelke hesitated at first, standing nervously where Marlene had let go of her hand, and looked back at Vincent. He nodded encouragingly, and Shelke smiled then ran after Marlene.

"Was it hard finding yourself after being someone else for so long?" Bee asked Cloud suddenly, having lost sight of Shelke as the girl ran behind a machine after Denzel.

One thing Bee loved so much about Cloud was that he never really conveyed when he was surprised or not, never really looked at anyone like they were stupid, always accepting what his friends said without question. Cloud's face stayed passive, even when presented with the random question.

"Yes," he finally answered, watching as Tifa moved on to speak with Red XIII, "But I had never really been Zack completely anyway, nobody ever could be."

Bee nodded in agreement. Zack had been special, and Bee knew that she would never meet anyone else like him again in her lifetime. She too turned her gaze to Tifa and smiled as her friend began to tease Red.

"But still," Cloud continued, "I had put my entire being into living out his life for him, that when I realized just how far it had gone, I didn't know how to be myself anymore. I had become a mix of the two of us, and I slowly had to divide the pieces up to make myself whole again."

"I didn't want to be Aerith, exactly," Bee explained, "Not like you tried to be Zack. I just really wanted to live by her example. She was always so good, so caring. I wanted to make sure that after she was gone, that I lived like that too."

"We all do," Cloud told her softly. He fingered the pink ribbon on his arm and then turned to his younger friend beside him, observing how young and vulnerable she looked in that moment. She was sitting on the beam with her head bowed, her eyes drooped as she watched Tifa and Red. Her shoulders hunched a bit, and her hands had fisted on the material of her shorts.

"I know," she said, nodding slowly, "But I didn't know all of you back when I lost her. She had been my idol for so long that when she was gone, I tried so hard to be what she was. I had thought that if I lived like her, she was still here, with me. I wish I had known you all back when you were with her. I think I might have taken her death better than I did."

"I don't know," Cloud answered honestly, "Everyone deals with death differently. Why are you asking this? Did you think about what I said?"

"Yes... and no," Bee said, her face flushing in embarrassment, "Reno came to my shop a few days ago. We... talked. About what happened. Aerith would never have done something like what I did."

"That doesn't make what you did wrong," Cloud told her, confirming what Bee knew all along. Cloud had known about what had happened between Bee and Reno. "It makes what you did _you_. Now you just need to move on and forgive yourself for what you did, if that's what you really want."

Bee nodded, her face still flushed. She was still embarrassed, this wasn't exactly the kind of conversation she wanted to have with Cloud, but she also realized that he was probably the only one who could help her with it. "I miss her so much, Cloud. Sometimes, I swear I can hear her saying things to me. Small things, like encouraging words to keep me going."

"You probably do hear her," Cloud said, nonplussed by Bee's confession, "She is with the planet now, and the planet always has a way to communicate with the people on it. I hear her too sometimes."

"You do?" Bee asked, perking up a bit, her embarrassment quickly forgotten.

"Yeah," Cloud told her, nodding. He gave the barest of smiles when he saw Tifa motioning up to them, trying to get Red XIII to wave his fire tail in order to get their attention. He waved down at her and motioned that they would be down soon. "She lives on inside us. You don't need to try and be her when she already is with you."

Bee looked down at her hands in her lap, and raised them to her chest, feeling her heart beat on the other side of her skin. It would take some work, but eventually the beating wouldn't hurt as much. Eventually, Bee would be able to move on, like Cloud had. Eventually, she would forgive herself; for Reno, for Zack, and for Aerith.

"Come on," Cloud said, startling her from her thoughts. She turned to find that he was already standing on the beam, holding a hand out to her. "The others were probably wondering where you were."

Bee smiled at him and nodded. "Yeah," she said, taking his hand and letting him support her and she stood and balanced on the beam before heading back down to all of her friends.

"_That's it. Keep moving forward._"

* * *

It was with a lighter heart that Bee stepped off _The Shera_ and craned her neck up to take in the WRO headquarters ahead of her. The only other building she had even seen that could even measure up to it was the Shinra building in Midgar. The thought was ironic to her, comparing a building of despair to a building of hope, but as she walked slowly towards the building in front of her, she thought it was fitting. Replace the Shinra building with something grander, something that would be a symbol of hope to the people of Gaia.

"Welcome!" Reeve stepped forward, off of the stairs that lead to the entrance to the headquarters. His arms were spread before him as he moved to embrace Tifa and then kneel down to greet Red and then shake hands with the rest of the men. Shelke gave him a pleasant nod as he quickly asked how she was doing in Edge, and then moved on to face Bee. "Ah, our guest of honor," he said, smiling down at her, offering his hand to her in greeting.

Bee took the outstretched hand and shook it, giving Reeve a polite smile. "Guest of honor?" Bee questioned nervously. She noticed that her friends had all turned to look at her, and behind them, at the top of the stairs Bee noticed that the Turks had come out of the glass doors leading into headquarters. In between the four of them was none other than Rufus Shinra.

"Of course," Reeve said with a wide smile, "You are the one who is going to help us win this, without you we would surely lose." He turned to walk up the stairs, placing a hand on the small of Bee's back and guiding her through her friends. They followed closely behind her, with Tifa hovering like a mother hen.

"I didn't realize how much this operation was riding on my cooperation..." Bee admitted shyly. She had never really stopped to think about the fact that if she had disagreed to help Reeve, the Wutai Rebels would probably never be dealt with and negotiations between the two countries would never be finished. The whole objective of the WRO was to create a peaceful Gaia, and how could that happen if Shinra never apologized to the country they had gone to war with previously?

Reeve nodded at her and continued to lead her to the top of the stairs and towards Rufus. "We were lucky to have someone like you as a friend. Your antidotes are going to save many lives, Bee."

"Aerith would be proud," Rufus told her as the group finally approached him, looking at Bee with an approving smile.

"Don't talk as if you actually knew her," Bee snapped, before she could control herself. Reeve stayed calm beside her, but she felt her friends shift behind her, and Yuffie stepped forward to grab her hand. The contact calmed the alchemist, but she refused to apologize and instead sent a glare at Reno, knowing that he must have told Rufus that she knew Aerith. Reno, for his part, had the decency to look apologetic, and he scratched the back of his neck and looked away. Next to him, the woman Turk that had been in Bee's shop before, placed a hand over her mouth to hide a smile at the exchange.

"She would," Reeve affirmed, moving his hand from Bee's back to her shoulder. He looked down at her with the smallest of smiles. "I may not have known her as well as you or the others did, but I still knew her. And I know that she would be proud of you."

Bee glanced up at him and then back to Rufus, leveling him with a glare that he ignored. "I'm doing this for my friends. I've already done enough to have made Aerith proud of me," she said tersely, "Should we go in?"

"Of course," Reeve said with a nod. Rufus and the Turks turned to enter the building and the others followed behind them. "We will be showing you to your rooms first so that you can put your luggage away." He gestured to the bag that Bee had slung over her shoulder. Yuffie spoke up then, jumping beside Bee, pulling her hand up and down in the process.

"You're staying with me!" Yuffie told her excitedly, "We get to be roommates for a night! Isn't that great?"

"Yeah, Yuffie, it is," Bee said, her voice staggering a bit with every yank Yuffie made on her arm.

"Kid, stopping ripping her arm off!" Cid yelled at her, pulling his cigarette out of his mouth and stomping it out on the ground before going through the doors with everyone else.

Yuffie obeyed, but still held a vice grip on Bee's arm as they walked down a long hallway just off the main entrance. Rufus and the Turks still walked ahead of them, and Bee noticed that Reno looked back at her, giving an amused grin at Bee's expense. She scowled at him and his smile widened and he turned back around and continued to walk next to Rufus. Reeve noticed, but if he was confused by it, he said nothing, instead turning to speak quietly with Vincent. The large group came to a fork in the hallway and Reeve stopped them.

"This is the conference room where we will hold our meeting," Reeve told them all. Rufus and the Turks headed through the door directly in the center of the fork, and Bee caught a glimpse of a large table surrounded by black leather office chairs. Tseng shut the door behind them all and Reeve continued, "You will all be staying in the living quarters that are along this hallway." Reeve motioned to the left of the conference room. "I will be on the right, along with Rufus, the Turks, Vincent, and Yuffie. Bee, Yuffie insisted that you stay with her in her room. She will show you the way."

Bee nodded and let Yuffie drag her away from the group, just barely managing to wave at Tifa who was being led by Reeve down the other hallway. Yuffie pulled her down, past several doors until they finally came to a stop at almost the end of the hallway.

"This is where I stay when I'm doing work here at headquarters!" Yuffie informed her, excitedly. Bee nodded and noticed that there was even a plaque on the door with her name on it. Yuffie swiped a card on the side of the door and a click sounded from within the wall and she was able to twist the knob on the door and let herself and Bee inside.

Bee stepped in slowly after Yuffie and took a look around the room. There was a large desk underneath the far window, past a large bed. There were papers cluttered all over the desk, and a single picture frame on the back corner. Bee passed a Wutain scroll on the wall on her way over to examine the picture, and an armchair that had been placed across from the bed. Finally reaching the desk, Bee carefully picked up the frame and saw that it contained a picture of Yuffie and the rest of the group.

"That was taken at the Golden Saucer," Yuffie said, coming up behind Bee and startling her a bit. Yuffie laughed at this, but continued, "See? Aerith is still alive..."

Bee had noticed this already, and had not wanted to ask Yuffie about it. Yuffie was the youngest in the group, and she had dealt with Aerith's death in the least mature way; by crying her eyes out. Even now, sometimes mentioning Aerith caused Yuffie's eyes to brim with tears. That was the biggest difference between the two friends; Bee tended to be more rational and mature about things, whereas Yuffie loved to cause scenes and act like a child. However, to Yuffie's credit, she had matured a lot over the years that Bee had known her, and Bee noticed that Yuffie was smiling now as she looked down at the picture.

"I wish we had known you then," Yuffie said, looking up at Bee finally. Bee smiled, touched by Yuffie's words, and she nodded.

"Me too, although I'm not much good in a fight," Bee said with a laugh. She looked back down at the picture, taking in Cloud's position between Tifa and Aerith, Tifa's old outfit, Aerith's pink bow from Zack, the cigarette perched in Cid's mouth, Cait Sith sitting on top of Nanaki, Vincent's distant gaze, Barret's hand gun, and the huge smile on Yuffie's face. Bee ran a hand over the picture, lingering over Aerith's image for a second, and she smiled at how Aerith seemed to curve naturally into Cloud's side. But of course, on the other side of Cloud, was Tifa, and Bee smiled, remembering how Yuffie had once called the three the most famous love triangle you would ever encounter in your life.

"Hey, are you two ready?"

Bee and Yuffie looked back at the door to the room to see Cloud standing there, looking at them expectantly. Yuffie told him they were, and they stood. Bee went back to the desk and placed the picture back on its surface, and walked out of the room behind Yuffie, closing the door behind her, and taking a deep breath before walking down the hallway and into the conference room where everyone was already seated, waiting for their guest of honor.

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A/N: please review! reviews make me all happy and give purpose to my writing :)

also for my story's sake, let's pretend everyone got a picture done at the gold saucer, okay?


	6. Being Around You

A/N: please see my profile for further information on this story if you haven't already!

Also, if you have a tumblr, I posted my tumblr link to my profile as well. Follow me or message me!

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Chapter 6: Being Around You

The first half of the meeting was mostly boring to Bee. Reeve had brought up diagrams of battle plans that the group and the armies were to follow. To Bee, the screen just looked like a bunch of lines and dots pasted over a picture of the rebel base, but the others looked at it intently and participated in conversation with Reeve easily. So Bee sunk down in her chair, in between Yuffie and Tifa, trying to become invisible and wishing that they had just let her play with Marlene, Denzel, and Shelke for the first half of the meeting. Or at the very least, let her take a nap back in Yuffie's room. It was with this thought that Bee actually started to doze off in her chair, slumping down even further, and leaning her head on her hand.

She didn't awaken until she felt someone shake her shoulder roughly and Yuffie's voice whisper furiously in her ear, "Bee! Wake up, dummy!"

"Wha...?" Bee asked, confused for a second. It took her almost a minute to realize that she was in the WRO conference room at their headquarters, and that Reeve had probably just addressed her, as he was looking at her with an amused smile on his face. Then again, almost everyone was looking at her with some sort of amused expression. Even Rufus had turned his head to hide the tiniest upturn of lips. Bee stuttered, feeling her face go red, as she jumped up in her chair, straightening herself out as fast as she could. "I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, looking to Reeve and grasping the arms of her chair to help her sit even straighter against the black leather.

Reeve couldn't hold back a chuckle, but he shook his head and smiled kindly at the girl. "No, it's alright," he told her gently over the laughs of Cid and Yuffie. Even Tifa gave a small giggle and Bee was horrified to hear Elena and Reno give a few laughs as well. "Okay, everyone, settle down. This isn't Bee's scene, we should give her a break."

Yuffie continued to laugh at Bee, and the alchemist turned to her friend and glared at her, instantly causing the ninja to cease, and give a sheepish smile. Bee frowned at her, and poked her in the ribs, causing Yuffie to yelp and this time, Bee laughed. She turned her attention back to Reeve and said, "I'm really sorry. What were you saying?"

"Right," Reeve continued, a smile still on his face, "It is already agreed upon that you would be helping us to create enough antidotes to support our armies." Bee nodded at this and Reeve went on, "But what we wanted to discuss with you here is the means to make your antidotes, and potentially how long it would take for you to make enough. You would be making over a thousand antidotes."

Bee nodded and frowned at this, thinking through what would exactly have to be done to meet Reeve's demands. "What is the longest I could take?" she asked him.

Reeve paused and looked at Rufus. The former Shinra company president spoke up, looking at Bee directly. "The maximum amount of time that we can afford to wait would be about one month," Rufus told her, "We don't know what the rebels would do if we waited any longer."

Bee couldn't help but blanch at that, and she felt the blood leave her face. "One month? You want me to make one thousand antidotes in just one month? How am I supposed to run a shop and tend to my patients if I have to make that many antidotes in such short a time?"

"You would be generously compensated for your time," Rufus informed her calmly, but Bee shook her head quickly.

"No, you don't get it," Bee told him, the slightest quiver of panic in her voice, "I'm really the only _good_ potion shop in Edge. If I close down, how will people be able to heal themselves? How will my patients survive if I don't go to help them?"

"Maybe..." Reno surprised everyone by speaking up, "A compromise?" He eyed Bee with that grin, and she watched him cautiously address everyone in the room. "None of us have any serious preparations to make before attacking the rebel base. The WRO has fully recovered from the conflict with Deepground. And, it's still prepared for another attack. Maybe... we could have some volunteers to look after the shop during the day while our little alchemist works her poor fingers to the bones. In return... we let her still go and do her angelic hospital visits and give her an extra two weeks to finish the antidotes."

Bee stared at Reno, surprised at how smart his idea was. She turned to Rufus, ignoring the smug look Reno was giving her and waited for the verdict.

"Well..." Rufus answered, also stunned with Reno's suggestion, "I suppose we can spare two extra weeks... Do the rest of you agree?"

"Cloud, Yuffie, and I can take care of the shop," Tifa offered, smiling at her friend, "We've been in the shop during the day more than anyone besides Bee. We know how she runs things and how she organizes her products."

Rufus nodded and turned to Reno. "I will be sending the Turks as well," he told Reno casually. He ignored the noise of protest that Reno made at him. "I want them to monitor your progress, and to bring the antidotes that you make back to headquarters. I doubt that you can fit a thousand bottles of antidotes in your shop."

"No..." Bee regretfully agreed. The last thing she wanted was for Reno to be coming around her shop on a daily basis, but Rufus had a point. She would never be able to fit so many antidotes into her shop at one time. "I need more supplies too. I can make a list for you if you want."

"We can give you whatever you need," Reeve assured her with a wave of his hand, "Is there anything else?"

Bee thought for a minute and then nodded slowly. "I want to run a medical camp close to Wutai," she told Reeve calmly, garnering confused looks from everyone in the room. She quickly stood and moved to the map of the base on the screen at the front of the room, pointing at the area of Wutai and turning to look at Reeve. "The base is not far from Wutai," she explained, dragging her finger from the village to the base, showing how close they were to each other. "Innocent people may get caught in the crossfire. I want to be there to help them, should they get hurt. If you want, you can bring your injured soldiers to me too. And, I can set up a work station and make even more antidotes for you." She dropped her arm from the screen and curled a stray piece of hair behind an ear, waiting for an answer. To her surprise, it was Reno who spoke up again.

"That's stupid," he exclaimed, standing from his seat and approaching the screen as well, "Where would you set up a medical camp that wouldn't draw attention to the enemy? Look." He held a hand out to the screen and gestured to the general area. "You can't set it up in Wutai itself, you would be putting those innocents in danger, and you can't get close to the base without drawing their fire. Which means, you would need to be further away, which isn't possible because of the mountain range. Where would you go without putting yourself in danger?"

"Right here," Bee said simply. Everyone looked to see that Bee pointed to a small clearing surrounded by mountains, a few miles away from the base. "I know that it's still close, but the rebels won't be able to see the camp. You will all just have to be stealthy about bringing people in."

Reno turned to her and motioned to the screen again. "And if the rebels find it? You'll be a sitting duck, you'll never make it out. They'll go straight for you. You'd be the only healer there, they don't care about the wounded. You would be their target, and you would never make it out alive."

"And if I don't do it, hundreds of people could die," Bee argued back, motioning to Wutai on the map, "Maybe you don't care about innocent people's lives, but I do. The whole point of the WRO is to protect the planet, isn't it? How can you possibly protect the planet if you can't even protect the planet's people? Too many people have died in the name of progression already. I won't let that happen, not when I have the means to protect them. You want my antidotes? These are my terms."

"You're crazy!" Reno told her, clenching his hands into fists at his sides, "You're willing to sacrifice your own life, to save people you don't even know? People who aren't even from your country?"

"Sorry if I like saving lives, more than taking them," Bee shot back, knowing it was a low blow but not caring, "I know, as a Turk, you wouldn't understand the feeling."

Reno backed off at that, gritting his teeth and wanting to argue more, but having nothing left to say.

"Reno."

The Turk turned to find that Tseng had stood and that everyone in the room had been watching the two argue back in forth, some in fascination, others in confusion, and a few with knowing looks on their faces.

"I think you've made your point," Tseng informed him tersely, "But we need those antidotes, so I suggest you sit down now."

"But-"

"Sit. Now."

Reno grumbled as he made his way back to his chair at the far corner of the table, hands in his pockets and his shoulders hunched over. He kept his head low as he plunked himself into his chair and turned it so that it faced away from everyone else. He didn't speak again, the rest of the meeting.

Bee turned back to Reeve again and cocked her head back at the map and asked, "So, can I have the camp?"

Reeve sighed and looked over at Cloud. Bee's friend had remained silent throughout Reno's protests, but for once in his life, he actually agreed with the Turk. He hated the thought of putting Bee in danger, especially when he would be no where close to her to protect her. Nobody would be. But he saw no way around Bee's demands. All Bee saw were innocents that needed her help, and Shiva help anyone that stood in her way. He closed his eyes and nodded at Reeve, placing a hand over his face in disgust at his decision. Tifa sat silent next to him and Bee noticed that her fingers were laced together in front of her, her knuckles white. When Cloud nodded, she turned her gaze downwards to her hands, but said nothing.

"Yes," Reeve conceded finally, turning back to Bee with a frown on his face, "We will set you up with a medical camp just before we go after the base. However, it is as Reno said. Should you be discovered, you will have no where to run. We can leave you with a radio that can connect you to our airships so that you can radio for help if you need it and a few soldiers to guard you, but I don't know how useful they will be if the rebels discover you. And by the time your radio message got to us..."

Bee nodded in understanding, not needing Reeve to finish his thought. She understood the risks. She had understood the risks the day she had went to find survivors after Meteorfall too. Midgar had been extremely dangerous after that day, but that had not stopped Bee in the slightest from helping the people that needed her for the next two years, and no rebel faction would stop her now.

"Then it is settled," Reeve announced, looking back at the group with an air of finality, "I will send around battle formation papers to everyone tonight, and you can come find me or call me later on with questions. Bee will be making antidotes, and we will go over a schedule for her tomorrow, along with the Turks and those who will be watching over her shop. Bee, write a list of things you will need and give it to me by tomorrow morning."

Everyone in the room nodded, and slowly stood. Bee headed back for the table instead of the door, having noticed paper and pens on the far side of the table. She would stay for a bit longer to write down her list. Tifa cut her off, but Bee waved her off, assuring her that there was nothing that could be done. Bee's demands were final. Tifa sadly walked away from her friend to join Cloud who waited for her at the door. Cloud let Tifa pass, and Bee saw that he nodded at the far corner of the table and then left, shutting the door behind him.

Turning in the direction of Cloud's nod, Bee found Reno still sitting in the leather chair, glaring up her.

"Isn't this funny?" Bee asked, taking a seat across from Reno and grabbing the paper and pen she had seen earlier, "Normally, I'm the one looking at you like that."

"You're crazy," Reno retorted back, placing both of his hands on the table, palms down. Bee saw that his knuckles turned white from the weight he was putting on them as he leaned forward as far as he could over the table.

"You said that already," Bee pointed out, uncapping her pen and looking down at her paper. When Reno didn't say anything back she looked up at him. "Why do you care?"

"What?" he asked her, recoiling from her question. He sat limp in his chair again and watched as Bee looked back down at her piece of paper and began to write on the top line. Her handwriting was small, he noticed, and loopy. It was fitting for her, he decided as he continued to watch her write, her hands gracefully holding the pen in place as she skimmed her hand downwards, line by line.

"I asked why do you care?" she said, not looking up from her paper, "What does it matter to you if I do this? Cloud should have been the one arguing with me up there, or even Tifa. I don't see why you were the one to jump up and yell at me."

"Just because I slept with you and then left you doesn't mean I don't care whether or not you throw your life away like that," Reno said angrily, "You think I'm that heartless?"

Bee stopped writing and looked back up at him, but didn't put her pen back down. Her hair fell over her shoulder from the motion, and she flicked her head a bit, flinging it back. She had forgotten to wear a headband that day, and was paying the consequences. She sighed at Reno's question, and relented a bit, giving a shrug.

"No, I never thought you were heartless," she explained sadly, "I'm sorry. Tifa told me a lot about the Turks before I met you, and Cloud would sometimes remember random events from his past, some of them dealing with the Turks. While I won't claim to know your whole life, I know how much the Turks have changed. Tifa told me you guys went after Zack and tried to save him."

"Yeah..." he said sadly. He placed his head on his hand, supporting it with an elbow on the table, looking away from Bee. "We never found him. We... never really forgave ourselves for that failure."

Bee nodded and watched Reno as his eyes went distant, perhaps reliving the horrible events of that day over again. Bee wondered if he thought about it often. If he said the Turks never forgave themselves for it, then he probably did. Perhaps it haunted him to this very day.

"Cloud says that everyone has things they want forgiven," Bee told him, catching his attention again, "And that we have to forgive ourselves eventually."

"Yeah?" Reno asked, finally returning to his playful nature, "You ever forgive yourself for what happened with me?"

"No," she deadpanned, turning back to her paper and trying her hardest to ignore him. To her dismay he stood and walked over to the chair next to her and sat down, leaning closer to her. She watched him out of the corner of her eye.

"Oh come on, little bug," he told her, his voice lowering to a sultry tone, "You _enjoyed_ that night. What is there to forgive? We're both adults here, we know the pleasures of a person's company in bed. You weren't a virgin, if I remember."

Bee wanted to punch him in the face so hard at that moment. She was discovering that Reno was the only one to bring out a violent side in her, and she didn't like it.

"I wasn't," she confirmed with a nod. She sat up now, deciding that her list would never get finished with Reno in the room, and she capped her pen before placing it back onto the table.

"So..." He inched closer to her then, relishing in the way her face slowly turned red and how her grey eyes widened, her body frozen into place. The same reaction as last time, and Reno still wasn't tired of it. He smiled wickedly and decided to push the girl's limits. He lifted a hand and ran it through the length of Bee's hair, curling it around two fingers, and then letting it fall limp again. His eyes never left hers, and she found that her fight or flight instincts had kicked the bucket. "How did I compare?"

This got a reaction out of her, and Reno laughed at her as anger flitted across her face, but then was replaced by sheer embarrassment as Bee tried desperately to look away from the Turk before her.

"That good, huh?" he asked her cockily. He lifted his hand again, this time to trace her bottom lip, noticing again how pink her lips were, and remembering how wonderful they had tasted when he had kissed them. Sweet and cool, like watermelon on a fall night. Something Reno had experienced just once, and was dying to try again.

Bee's breath left her, leaving her dizzy as Reno leant forward even more, and his lips covered hers softly, touching her more gently than she thought possible for him. His hand brushed her cheek, and every cell on her skin that he came in contact with did an electrifying dance, one that went all the way down her back, causing her to shiver. She had been so surprised by his actions, that she didn't even close her eyes, and so she watched as red strands of hair tickled her forehead, and the goggles he constantly wore edged higher on his face, being pushed up by Bee's head. Her body went limp as his lips did wonderful things to hers and moved in an intricate dance that she couldn't hope to keep up with. He pulled back then, noticing that she had slumped back in her chair, and his lips could barely stay in contact with hers anymore because of it.

He couldn't lie, taking in her obvious state of overwhelm from his kiss gave Reno a sense of satisfaction he had never felt before, even from the completion of a particularly hard mission as a Turk. He smirked at her, noticing that she had looked away from him and touched her lips delicately with one finger. It gave him a slight buzz to cause her, or any woman for that matter, to fall to pieces from one of his kisses, right in front of him.

"Don't worry," he told her, his voice like silk to her ears and she looked back up at him, "My kisses always leave a woman in a state of total and utter bliss. You should recover in a few minutes, with the only side effect being that you will constantly want to jump my bones every time you see me."

A genuine laugh escaped from between Bee's lips, and she slapped a hand over them, surprised at her own reaction. Reno's eyebrows shot up, also shocked that he had elicited a laugh of good humor from her, and not a scoff of disapproval.

"Looks like someone is finally letting herself have some fun," Reno told her, crossing his arms over his chest, "Guess you can thank me later."

Bee opened her mouth to retort, but she let it die in her throat. She looked at Reno, scrutinizing him and she realized something. She had enjoyed his kiss, and she had definitely enjoyed the night they had spent together. She hated the fact that it had been a one night stand, hated that the kiss he had just given her had meant nothing, and that was something that would not go away, but she found that she actually did not in fact hate the man sitting before her. She thought he was funny, apparently. She discovered that she liked his sense of humor. His cockiness wasn't annoying to her, like it originally would have been. Instead, she found it almost endearing because she knew now that he wasn't actually that egotistical, it was just how he got a few laughs. When he wasn't trying to put her on edge, he was more than tolerable, he was a pleasure to be around. Something different in Bee's life, like a fresh breeze on a humid day.

"Reno?"

"Hmm?" He looked at her cautiously, having watched her expressions during her thought process. He couldn't decide if she had come to the conclusion to slap him again, and he was preparing to dodge it if she did.

"Could we... Be friends?"

Reno couldn't help but blink at the question and then replay it over again in his head, making sure he had hear her right. He eyed her suspiciously and asked, "What?"

"Don't get me wrong," she said, waving her hands in front of her face, and smiling at him, "I'm not trying to make myself feel better for sleeping with you by making you my friend. And I'm not asking for anything more than that. I don't want to have sex with you again, no matter how you may beg me." Bee's smile widened when she saw that Reno chuckled at her joke, and her heart warmed at the sound. "I just... I actually kind of... like being around you. You just can't kiss me again."

A few seconds went by in which Reno again questioned whether or not he had heard her right. He took the fact that she hadn't slapped him again as a sign that he had actually heard her and he looked at her in curiosity. Her face was still flushed from their kiss, and her hands were laced together on her lap. Her eyes showed anticipation, anxiousness and he realized that she actually really wanted him to say that he would be her friend. It took a few more seconds to realize how big of a step this was for her. She was asking to be friends with a man who represented all evil in her world. A man who had slept with her and then ditched her the next morning. A man who had tried to kidnap her friend many times over the years.

It was this realization that prompted Reno to think about her offer, which he had dismissed at first. Maybe the girl had potential after all. It took someone with real guts to ask a Turk to be their friend, or to even associate with them, guts he hadn't thought Bee had. Yet, she had just assured him that she wasn't asking to be friends to make her feel better about her one lapse of judgement. Perhaps there really was more to this little alchemist than just an angelic front.

"I take it back," he told her, leaning forward again. When she gave him a confused look, he explained, "You're not as much of a goody-two-shoes as I thought you were. Making friends with a Turk? That's some heavy shit, yo."

She smiled at him, genuinely happy with his words and she nodded, finally coming to the conclusion that her decision was not a bad one. "I'm... working on it."

"Well, I can certainly help in the bad influence department. Sure you don't want to have sex again?"

He laughed when she blushed at him again. Well, all things come with time, he thought. He held out a hand to her and she took it and the two clasped them together, with Reno placing his other hand on top, and running his fingers over hers and enjoying the way she watched, knowing that she wanted so badly to move her hand away from the contact. He looked her in the eyes and gave her his lop-sided grin again.

"Yeah, I think we can be friends."

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A/N: If you don't think Reno would become friends with Bee so easily, it will be explained later on!


	7. What You Do

A/N: I realized that I never did a disclaimer for this story, so hopefully it's been obvious that I don't own Final Fantasy VII, and I never ever will. If I did, I would not be a starving college kid, job hunting at every spare moment I have. Hum...

Please review! Reviews make me happy, and all warm and fuzzy inside!

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Chapter 7: What You Do

Being friends with Reno apparently really just meant that it was less awkward being in a room with him, and that he found it easier to tease Bee mercilessly whenever he could. He called her many different names, his favorites being little bug, insect, angel, goody-two-shoes, perfect princess, and pipsqueak. Bee found that writing her list for Reeve took much longer than she had originally intended for it to take, seeing as Reno didn't leave Bee alone even after they agreed to be friends. He continued to try and push her limits, leaning close to her, touching her shoulder or neck unnecessarily, playing with her hair, and making crude comments about getting her back into bed with him. But he didn't try to kiss her again, and he never brought up the occurrence like he did their once night stand together.

He also never mentioned anything or acted that way when other people were around, Bee noticed. He had arrived at Yuffie's room the next morning to pick up her list for Reeve, and had opened his mouth to make a snide remark about Bee's bed head when he saw Yuffie in the background of the room, packing up several papers from her desk in a small duffle bag. He quickly shut his mouth, took the paper from Bee and thanked her professionally, leaving the room swiftly, confusing Bee to no end. However, a half hour later when Bee left the room to find Tifa, she found him leaning against the wall outside Rufus's room, presumably waiting for the former president to be ready to leave. He noticed her approach and as she passed him, he wished her a good morning and informed her that her bed head earlier had been pretty sexy. She blushed furiously, said nothing, but shook her head and walked faster down the hall to Tifa's room. His laughter followed her all the way there.

Reno's friendship also apparently entitled him to also volunteer to help with Bee's shop, shocking Reeve, Rufus, Tifa and Cloud when he told them of his decision. Reeve had looked to Bee for confirmation while Rufus just shrugged, saying that he needed Reno to go to the shop anyway, it wasn't his problem if Reno wanted to stay longer than necessary. Cloud watched Reno intently as Bee also shrugged and said that if Reno wanted to help out, she wouldn't say no, but he would have to go through a brief training with Bee. He agreed, looking back at Cloud, his face impassive, and then headed for the helicopter that would escort the Turks and Rufus back to Edge. He gave them all a small wave and pulled himself up into the pilot seat, then took off after Rufus had gotten in beside him and buckled himself in. When Cloud turned to look at her, his face stern, Bee only shrugged.

"We decided to be friends," she told him nonchalantly, earning herself two incredulous looks, and one very confused look from Reeve.

"Friends?" Tifa asked in disbelief, "You decided to become friends with a Turk?"

"You're the one who said that the Turks had changed," Bee reminded her older friend, crossing her arms over her chest, and looking up to watch the helicopter disappear over a mountain in the distance. She felt her hair flicker around her in the light breeze that was running through the valley the headquarters was located in. Behind her, she heard Yuffie yelling at Cid, probably because he was making fun of her getting ready to hide in the engine room, but Bee continued to watch the spot where the helicopter had dipped over the mountain top.

"I know I did," Tifa relented, "But I just never really thought that you and Reno would ever..."

"Get over what happened," Cloud finished for her, ignoring a confused look from Reeve.

Bee finally looked away from the mountain and decided to look down at her boots. There was a scuff on the black leather of the right one, she would have to try and get it off later on.

"I'm trying to forgive myself," Bee explained, her voice low, "And him. I figured becoming friends with him was a good first step." Her other boot was fine, she decided, so she turned to examine her jean shorts instead, pulling at a stray thread.

"I guess..." Tifa consented finally. Beside her, Cloud nodded in agreement, but he couldn't keep the suspicion from his face. Bee had finally turned around and noticed it.

"What?" she asked him, frowning up at him, the thread on her shorts forgotten.

Cloud shook his head and turned to head over to the Shera and murmured under his breath, "I may have to have a chat with Reno..."

"What? Why?" Bee asked, trailing behind Cloud and catching up with him, peering up at his face. Beside her, Tifa chuckled good-naturedly and grabbed Bee's arm, tugging her away from Cloud.

"I agree with Cloud," she told Bee, wrapping her arm around Bee's shoulders. When Bee looked up at her, she smiled down and placed her forehead on Bee's own. "Don't worry about it."

Reeve followed behind, completely out of the loop and confused, and realizing nobody was going to explain anything to him.

The flight back to Edge was mostly uneventful; Bee spent much of her time napping in one of the storage rooms below deck. She had never liked flying much, she found airships to be too big, too unrealistic, and she only ever went on the Shera because she trusted Cid as a pilot more than anybody else on the planet. It was why she hung up in the rafters on the bridge and no where else. She could keep and eye on Cid and make sure that he was doing his job. However, this time she wandered her way into a stray storage room on some obscure part of the air ship, found a spare blanket in a random box, and laid down in a corner, curling the blanket around her and letting the hum of the engines lull her to sleep.

She slept peacefully for more than half the trip until the sound of the storage room door sliding open woke her. She straightened quickly from her corner to see Vincent Valentine enter the room and look down at her quizzically.

"Do you often sleep in random storage rooms?" he asked her, the barest hint of amusement in his voice.

Bee gave him a bashful smile, and stretched out her arms above her head. Sleeping on the ground had given her a crick in her back. "Not really," she told him shyly, feeling a blush creep up her face.

Vincent said nothing, but moved to lean on the wall across from her, crossing his arms and looking at Bee with interest. She ducked her head at the scrutiny. She had never been particularly close with Vincent; he had never been one for conversation. Even Shelke talked to her more than he did. He also wasn't around all that much. He had been to Bee's shop only to help build it, never coming by again afterwards, and when he visited the 7th Heaven, it was to spend time with Shelke. It surprised her that he didn't leave right after he found her in the corner of the room, waking up from her nap.

"What is it?" she asked him, after he continued to look at her. His stare made her uneasy. His crimson eyes seemed to pierce through to her very soul, delving into her darkest secrets.

"You've involved yourself with a Turk," he told her. Okay, so maybe he _could_ see her darkest secrets.

"Umm..." Bee was lost. She honestly had no idea how to respond to that. Did Vincent know that she had slept with Reno? Or was he just aware that they were familiar with each other?

"Cloud told me about the night at the bar," he told her calmly.

"He did?" she asked him. She was hurt that Cloud would go around telling people about that night, especially when he knew that she was already very upset about it. "Why would he do that?"

"Because I was once a Turk," he told her. He gave a hint of a smile when he saw her shocked expression and he continued, "A very long time ago. And I became involved with a woman. It ended... badly. Cloud knew this. He asked for advice to give you. He thinks that having Reno's attention will end badly for you."

Bee said nothing, not really knowing what _to_ say. She wasn't exactly involved with Reno, but he did seem to pay a lot of attention to her. She had assumed it was because she was such an easy target for his teasing, a way to blow off some steam. The fact that they had slept together, she assumed, just made it that much easier for him. Becoming friends with him had not seemed like that big of a deal to her. She knew that she would be seeing much of the Turk over the next few months, and she did not want his presence to be an awkward one. And, as she had determined the day before, she actually like Reno, enjoyed his company, more than maybe she was willing to admit.

"Turks do not often have relationships with other people," Vincent explained, "Having a lover, or a friend, usually ends up getting that lover or friend killed. The Turks have many enemies that would be willing to exploit a relationship as a weakness."

"I'm not in a relationship with him," Bee told him defensively, blushing all over again. First Cloud, now Vincent? If she had to talk about sleeping with Reno with another one of her male friends again she thought she would be permanently stained red.

"You slept with him, and have subsequently agreed to start a friendship with him," Vincent told her, watching as Bee picked furiously at a string on her shorts, trying to avoid eye contact with him, "You have agreed to help in a dangerous WRO operation, deliberately put yourself in danger, and have little to no fighting skills."

She winced at that. She had always known that her lack of defensive or offensive abilities had always held her back from joining her friends on their more exciting adventures. It was probably why Aerith never went to say good bye to her the day she left; Aerith probably knew that she would have begged to go along, and she would have no way to survive. She had been a healer from day one, with no weapon or even offensive spells to speak of. It was a fact that had always killed Bee inside.

"It seems like you're aiming to get yourself killed," Vincent told her, his void still devoid of emotion.

"I'm not changing my mind on any of those things," she said, hating how weak her voice sounded.

"I didn't say that you should," he replied. Bee was now wrapping the string on her shorts around her pointer finger and tugging on it, finally ripping it from the denim. She tossed it aside, and finally looked back up at him. "I came here to tell you not to pursue anything further with Reno. It will only end up with you getting hurt, or even killed. Even if it turns out that Reno has sincere feelings for you, no matter how unlikely, entering into a relationship with him would not bode well."

Bee's brow furrowed. "I never thought of having anything more with Reno," she said indignantly. It was the truth. Asking for a friendship with Reno had been something Bee never thought she would have done, let alone asking for him to be her boyfriend. Just the thought made her laugh. Reno didn't seem like the boyfriend type to her. He had been perfectly fine with having sex with her, no strings attached, and was willing to do it again. That was _not_ something Bee looked for in a guy. She even assumed that he agreed to be her friend because he probably thought that that was the best way to have sex with her again. Maybe this was all a ploy, and she would get duped in the end.

"I didn't think that you were," Vincent admitted to her. She stared back at him and once more managed to make a small smile appear on his face. "I merely wanted to warn you that should you develop feelings for Reno, you should try your hardest to forget them, and if need be, cut Reno out of your life completely."

She stopped to think about this. Could she develop feelings for Reno? It was possible, she had to admit to herself. Reno was the opposite type of person she normally made friends with. Yet she had found herself wanting to be around him. She found him attractive, liked his sense of humor, and he had already showed her that he had a gentle side the night they were together. She had never considered it before because of the fact that Reno was a Turk, a killer, and had already shown to Bee that all he was interested in was sex. But just because he didn't want more from her, didn't mean that she couldn't one day want more from him. She suddenly hated Vincent at that moment for bringing this up to her. If he hadn't opened up his mouth, maybe she never would have thought about this.

"You would have eventually," Vincent told her, startling her from her thoughts.

"Can you read minds or something?" she asked him, perturbed with how he seemed to know everything about her with just one conversation. She watched in utter shock as Vincent actually managed to chuckle at her and shake his head.

"No," he relented, "But I know Reno. He's a charmer. Cocky. And very dangerous. He didn't become second in command of the Turks because he was harmless."

"Second in command?" Bee repeated, sitting up straighter in her corner. The blanket slipped off her shoulders and revealed her blue and white sweater. She was always cold when she was on the airship, and had slipped the sweater on just before boarding.

Now that she thought about it, someone had definitely mentioned he was second in command at some point... didn't they?

"Yes," Vincent answered with a nod. He frowned at the girl in the corner. "You are also... younger than him."

"I'm younger than almost everybody," Bee retorted barely suppressing a roll of her eyes. When Vincent did not reply she had to ask, "How much younger?"

"Perhaps that is something you should ask him.." Vincent said, regretting bringing up the subject. He pushed off of the wall and before Bee could protest he had walked to the door and slid it open. He did turn back to her before leaving however and told her, "Think about what I said. You have always struck me as a smart and responsible girl, with always innocent and good intentions. I've never had to worry about you like I do Yuffie. I know that you can take care of yourself, but Cloud worries about everyone all the time. Just be careful." He left right afterwards, sliding the door back in place behind him.

Bee remained staring at the door, thinking about Vincent's words long after he had left the room, the blanket laying on the floor next to her, and she had forgotten why she was ever cold in the first place.

The supplies for Bee's antidotes arrived at her shop just two days after she had returned. Which meant that when she went downstairs that morning in order to open up her shop, coffee in hand, she found Reno, the Turk with the sunglasses, and about five large boxes all piled into the main part of her store.

She almost dropped her coffee mug when she heard Reno greet her, "Hey there, little bug. Came for a visit!"

Her mind buzzed from adrenaline, scared half to death by the intrusion. She took in Reno sitting on top of one of the boxes and the other Turk leaning against the counter, looking back at her. So many thoughts ran through her head, but she finally settled on asking, "How did you get in?"

"Swiped your spare key from your kitchen last time I was here," Reno said simply, giving her a shrug and his usual smirk, ignoring her enraged glare. He stood and motioned to the boxes. "Reeve sent us with your stuff, yo. He wants you to start working on the antidotes today."

Bee couldn't help the forlorn look on her face. She wasn't looking forward to slaving away for over a month on the same antidote over and over again. Yes, she loved making antidotes more than any of her other products, but she didn't like the thought of making one antidote every day for the next few weeks. It would getting boring and tedious after the first day, she knew it already.

"Alright," she said sadly, "So, who's watching over my shop today?"

Reno looked at his partner with a grimace. "Ah, I knew we forgot something when we left Reeve," he said sullenly. He perked up quickly though and looked back at Bee. "We can do it today then!"

"We?"

Bee looked at Reno's partner by the counter. It was the first time he had spoken since Bee had first seen him in her shop the previous week.

"Come on, Rude," Reno chastised playfully. When Rude only stared back at him, he gave a exaggerated huff of frustration and said, "Fiiiine. _I_ will be the one to watch over the shop today then. Way to bail, partner!"

Rude nodded, and walked to the door, opening it to head back out. "Don't get too distracted. Tseng will come looking for you if you're gone all day," he told Reno. Reno gave him a wave of dismissal and Rude left with a shake of his head, the door clicking behind him. He turned his attention back to Bee, noticing her looking at the boxes a little dubiously.

"What?" he questioned her.

"We should've gotten him to help us move the boxes..." she said sullenly. The boxes were fairly big, and moving all five of them would probably end up being a huge hassle.

"You think I can't do it?" Reno asked, pretending to be hurt. Bee turned her dubious look on him this time and he just chuckled at her, bending down to lift one of the boxes. He stood gracefully, his arms wrapped around the sides of the box and he looked at Bee who eyed him warily. "Where to?"

"Where the other boxes are," she told him, leading the way back to her work counter, peering over her shoulder the whole way to make sure he didn't drop the large box. Luckily, her worry was for naught as Reno easily carried the box back to the counter, shoved it underneath and then went back for another one. It didn't take long to bring all five back and when he was finished, Reno stood and grinned cheekily at Bee.

"Told ya," he teased, "Don't you remember my rock hard abs and solid arms?"

"No," Bee deadpanned, moving to slice open each box with a pair of scissors.

"Really?" he asked, actually upset this time. He watched as she peered into each box, discovering the contents of each and then writing on the top flaps in bold letters so that she would remember later on which box contained what supplies.

She didn't look up from her work and she shrugged at him. "I think you overestimate how much of that night I remember," she said soberly. It was true; Reno often made small jabs at her for one thing or the other about that night, but Bee didn't always get the joke. He apparently had not been as drunk as she had been and had remembered everything about that night, and it was really starting to bug her.

"_Really?_" he repeated. Bee looked up when she heard his tone of voice, and giggled at his horrified face. "How can you not remember spending the night with _me_?"

Bee stood up, straightening her shirt out as she did, and walked past Reno, heading for the shop door. She turned the sign on the window to OPEN and then walked back to her company. "I didn't say I don't remember _all _of it," she said off-handedly, "But I would prefer not to remember it. I'm not proud of that night, remember? We had a nice little talk about how I shouldn't blame you for it?"

"Bee, babe," he said, his voice almost begging, "Come _on_. How could you not remember or even not _want _to remember that night? It was probably the best night of your life. I gave you pleasure in so many ways, you melted in your bed."

She tried her hardest to ignore him, turning instead to look over her display of potions, thinking about where she would start Reno off on his crash course of running her shop, but he came up behind her and she yelped when he felt his lips on her neck.

"Don't tell me," he mumbled into her neck, "that you don't remember my lips on your skin." He tugged Bee's hair out of the way, and she felt his tongue swirl around to her ear. She could feel the goosebumps raise on her arms and her neck, and the image of Reno in this exact position flashed through her mind, though they were distinctly naked and in her bedroom. Reno sensed her hesitation and gave a dark laugh into her neck. "You do remember. Maybe we should close down shop for the day, and I should remind you all over again about that night."

She whirled around and shoved as hard as she could at his chest. He staggered back, surprised that such a small thing could muster so much strength. She was seething at him, frown lines creasing her high forehead, her hair askew from where he had previously had his hand in it. He held his hands up in forfeit, suddenly very afraid of the girl.

"Okay, okay," he said quickly, "No more jokes about that. I get it, yo. Sorry."

She only grunted and turned back to her potions. She was proud that she had managed to not yell at him again. It wasn't like her to yell, and it frustrated her to no end that he was the one person who managed to push her limits. But he needed to learn that this was nothing to joke about with her. She could take crude remarks, his inappropriate jokes, but only when they did not involve her night with him.

"Come here," she said gruffly, waving him over, "I need to explain everything to you."

He moved to her slowly, afraid that maybe she would whip around and slap him once he got close enough, but once he had reached her side, she really did start to give him lessons in alchemy. He listened closely, for once paying careful attention to everything she told him. He even impressed her by asking her questions every once in a while, such as whether or not he should recommend hi-potions instead of regular potions in order to make more money (no, only recommend them if the situation deemed a hi-potion necessary, she wasn't a money grubber), when he should suggest an elixer instead of something less potent (whenever someone had more than one symptom, but not more than one poison as poisons could only be cured by antidotes), and if he could bother her while she was working in case there was a question he couldn't answer (yes, her customers always came first). Deeming that he was finally ready, she let him take care of a customer that walked in five minutes later and was extremely impressed when the woman left with the proper antidote in hand and Reno hadn't even asked Bee for help. She beamed at him like a teacher would to a student, and told him he could handle things from there and she went to her counter again, rummaging through her boxes.

She was in the middle of making her tenth antidote when Reno plopped onto the stool that Bee seemed to never sit in. He leaned his elbows on the counter and placed his head in his hands, watching as Bee carefully heated the temperature of the hot plate below a beaker.

"You do this really fast," he told her, genuinely surprised with how many she had made already. The shop opened at eight in the morning and closed around five, and at only noon, the counter was full with phials of completed antidotes.

"Pay attention for customers," she ordered, thumbing through a pile of plants in front of her.

"Geez, relax, insect," he said defensively. He motioned to the store behind him. "There's nobody here and if someone walks in I would see them from here and go take care of them okay? I got bored of just sitting at the counter when there isn't even a customer in here. What do you do when you get bored anyway?"

She managed to spare a glance at him, looking up from her plants, but only for a second. "I make more products," she said blandly.

"That's it?" he asked her incredulously. He had taken his head off of his hands, but kept his elbows on the counter and crossed his arms over each other. "Don't you ever stop working and have fun?"

He watched at she scooped a bunch of chopped up plants into her hand and threw them into the beaker, adjusting the temperature. She had asked Reeve for a bigger set of beakers so that she could make more antidotes than just one at a time. Now, she could do three or four at once, cutting down her time significantly, but requiring a bit more prepping time for each plant.

"Do you?" she countered, disinterested in his question, "You're a Turk. You're never off duty."

"Touché," he relented, "But still, I get off some days. I go drink, or sleep. I like sleeping in. I find a pretty girl sometimes and take her home. I practice with my EMR. I bug Elena or Rude, though Rude usually just shoves me off. I like gambling too, though Edge doesn't have any good places for that. Wutai does though. And I like watching movies sometimes."

"You do?" Bee asked, finally hearing one that didn't disgust her. She had perked up, actually listening to him now.

"Hmm? Yeah," he replied, disappointed that out of all of his activities, she picked the most boring one to respond to. "Mostly action movies, but I like mystery a lot too, and comedy, though it's hard to find a good comedy out of Midgar. My favorite movie is _Materia Rush_. You ever seen it?"

She turned back to her beaker then, holding her hand out over it and casting Poisona. "No," she told him with a shake of her head, "My mom couldn't afford a TV when I was little. When I moved here, I had lived for so long without a TV that it never really occurred to me to buy one. I've never watched a movie in my life."

She waited for Reno to make fun of her for a moment or two, but when his jab never came, she looked over at him to find his face furrowed deep in thought. He was frowning deeper than she had ever seen him frown before, and the expression in his eyes was unreadable. She backed away from him a little, nervous under his troubled gaze.

"What?" she almost whined at him. She removed her hand from her beaker and placed it on the counter, waiting for the liquid inside to turn a darker color.

"You... You've never seen a single movie in your entire life?" he asked, his voice a blend of concern and disbelief.

"Slum girl, remember?" she reminded him with a shrug, "There's a lot of things I've never done or seen. You usually need money to do things exciting."

"You have money now," he pointed out, waving a hand at her shop.

"I do," was all she said back. Reno knew this already, she had to make a great amount of money selling her products in her shop. She had enough to pay bills, to eat, and buy drinks most nights as well. However, her tone insinuated that it was not a topic she wished to discuss and so he changed subjects.

"So, you never told me what you do for fun." He prodded her side, and was rewarded with the smallest of giggles. He grinned at her, but left her side alone again, waiting for an answer.

"I go to the 7th Heaven and play with Marlene and Denzel, or I drink sometimes, like the night you met me," she answered briskly, annoyed that he had tickled her.

"That's it? You have to do more than that. You said you had boyfriends, that you had men hit on you in Tifa's bar. And you got drunk with me. You have to get drunk often, right?" he drilled her with questions, watching as her brow creased with each one.

"I had two boyfriends," she said with a nod. She was pouring the beaker into new phials now, capping each one tightly and then sliding the wooden rack they were in down the counter past Reno to join the others. Thirteen down, just 987 to go, she thought glumly. "Neither could deal with my work ethic after a while. They thought that my patients were more important than they were, and they didn't like it. I never go home with the men that hit on me in Tifa's bar, but I do flirt with the more charming ones. That's how I met my previous two boyfriends. You were the only person I ever left with, and that was the drunkest I've ever been. I like getting drunk on occasion, usually with Yuffie, and usually by the time I am drunk, I'm upstairs with her in her room where nobody else can see me."

Reno paused to think this over, and came up with just one conclusion from Bee's little rant. "You," he told her, shoving his finger in her face for emphasis, "are way too serious all the time. You need to have more fun than that."

She swiped at his finger, knocking it away from her face so that she could kneel down and go through the boxes of supplies again and find what she need for yet another batch of potions. When she stood back up, Reno was still looking at her expectantly. She sighed and leaned on the counter beside him, turning just her head to look at him. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." He nodded at her and she couldn't help but laugh at how sage-like he was trying to be. "What do you want to do to have more fun?"

"I don't really have time for much fun..." she admitted, her eyes drifting upwards as she thought, "As soon as I close up shop I go around to my patients. That takes several hours because I do it all on foot. I get dinner at a different place almost every day though. I have a goal of going to every food place in Edge."

"Well, that's a start." Reno shrugged, and watched as her eyes went back to his. "What do you _want_ to do though, if you had more time?"

"If I had more time, and the materia, I would want to learn how to cast offensive magic spells," she told him seriously. When he opened his mouth to tell her that wasn't fun, that was training she cut him off. "You said you train with your EMR for fun! And besides, I think I would like that because it's so different from my healing magic. And it would be helpful for when I am in Wutai."

"Alright, alright," Reno relented, jiggling his hand at bit, "I will give you that. But what about something else, with no work at all?"

Bee thought about that, long and hard, upsetting herself a bit when she discovered how hard it really was to answer his question. Any other person could answer this easily, even Cloud. Bee knew that Cloud really liked taking pictures of beautiful scenery on his travels. His photography decorated the 7th Heaven. She didn't have any hobbies except alchemy, and while it was soothing to her, something familiar, Bee realized that it wouldn't make her happy forever.

"I like climbing things," she finally answered. When she saw that Reno didn't understand she quickly tried to explain herself. "At Aerith's church, and on Cid's airship, I like climbing into the rafters. I like climbing buildings and jumping from roof top to roof top to get to my patient's houses. If I had more time, I would go climb the mountains outside Edge."

"Strange, but I'll take it," Reno replied, pursing his lips a bit and mulling her answer over. "I'll have to take you sometime."

Bee almost dropped the new beaker she had picked up. She caught it, thankfully, and stood slowly, watching Reno with each inch that she rose. He hadn't smirked at her, or made a suggestive comment about getting her alone on a mountain top, so she assumed that he was being serious.

"Really?" she questioned, suspiciously. She just couldn't picture him climbing a mountain with her. When she tried, the image of him plummeting from however many hundred feet up all the way back down the mountain kept coming to her head.

"Yeah, really," he told her, completely serious. "Just gotta figure a way to get your little angel visits shorter."

Bee opened her mouth to argue, but the door to the shop opened then, and her words died in her throat. She smiled at the customers, and gestured to Reno who immediately stood and sauntered over to the two women, throwing them both his lop sided grin and asking how he could help them in the most seductive voice he could muster. Bee rolled her eyes and returned to her work, thinking that Reno had forgotten about his offer already. As she looked over her work in front of her, she knew she would forget soon enough too.


	8. Looking at an Angel

Chapter 8: Looking at an Angel

"Yeah?"

Bee's phone had rang in her pocket, catching her off-guard. It seemed she was getting more phone calls recently, and she didn't really like it. She was sitting on the top of the large beam that over-looked the 7th Heaven, the angel statue a little further down from her. Her ponytail whipped on her back as it flailed in the the wind, and she tugged her jacket further over shoulders as she placed her sandwich on the surface of the beam next to her. It took her a little to find the phone at the bottom of her pants' pocket, and she had flipped it open without looking at the ID, figuring that it was just Tifa asking when she would be coming to play with Marlene, or if she would be watching over the shop again tomorrow as she had done for two days straight after Reno had.

However, the voice on the other end was not Tifa's.

"Where are you?"

"Reno?" The voice was definitely the Turk's. There was no way Bee wouldn't recognize it by now. "How did you get my number?" Overhead, a flock of birds flew by, squawking loudly. Bee looked up at them and watched as they disappeared over a tall building.

"Reeve," Reno answered quickly, "Are you outside? I hear birds."

"I just finished my patient visits," Bee affirmed, "I'm eating right now."

"Ah, okay good," Reno answered, happy with the girl's answer, "Come back to your place."

"What? Why? My sandwich is really good," Bee surprised herself by whining into the phone. She didn't whine very often. However, she was telling the truth, her sandwich _was_ really good.

"Where did you go today?" Reno asked with interest, "You go to a different place every day, right?"

"Yeah," she answered, unable to leave the surprise from her voice.

"Hey!" he defended, "Don't sound so surprised, you insect! I _do_ listen to what you tell me, ya know. So, where did you go?"

She picked up her sandwich and read off of the wrapper. "Grand Stand Slammers," she read slowly, "Stupid name, but they had some pretty good stuff. I'll have to remember it." She took another bite of her sandwich and chewed slowly, listening for Reno to continue.

"Well now I'm just jealous," he teased her, "I haven't eaten dinner yet."

"You want food?" she offered, taking another bite of her sandwich. When she had chewed enough to talk she continued, "I can go back and get you a burger if you want. You're at my house aren't you?"

"Sure am!" he admitted happily, "I've still got your key. But anyway, if you want to be the angel that you are and go and get me a hamburger, I will definitely not argue. A drink might be nice too."

"There's water in my fridge," Bee told him, "Don't push your luck on my generosity. What are you doing in my house?"

"It's a surprise!" he announced excitedly, listening to her chewing again on the other line, "So hurry and get me a burger, with cheese, while you're at it. And pickles and ketchup. And then bring your angelic little ass back home, got it?"

Bee was already standing at that point and she took a last bite of her sandwich, bunched the wrapper up in her fist, and secured her backpack tighter on her back as she prepared to make her way down from the steel beam. "Sure, I can do that," she said, knowing she was going to regret her decision. She looked up at the angel statue as she passed by, grabbing on to it to support her as she climbed past it, and searching for guidance from the very figure Reno often compared her to. It stared down at her, its stony gaze giving nothing away, and she climbed the rest of the way down the beam with its image burned in the back of her mind.

* * *

It took only a half hour to get back to her place, a cheeseburger with ketchup and pickles still warm in a paper bag clutched in one of Bee's hands. She unlocked the front door, glad that Reno had actually thought to lock it behind him. She locked it herself once she had entered into the shop, then looked around the store, expecting Reno to be leaning on the counter. He wasn't there, however, and it didn't look like he was anywhere in the store at all.

"Reno?!" Bee yelled into the store. She walked slowly to the stair case, looking underneath it to see if he was sleeping on her cot.

"Up here!" came his voice from her flat above the store.

Bee followed the voice up the stairs and into her living room, the room that was directly next to the hallway at the top of the stairs. Reno was there, sitting on her couch, grinning at her like a mad fool, and Bee instantly wished she hadn't gotten him the cheeseburger.

"Hey!" he greeted her cheerfully. He stood and walked over to her, motioning to the bag in her hand. "That my burger?"

She nodded her head and held the bag out to him. "I took a bite," she admitted sheepishly before he could open it. He looked up from the bag to her, an eyebrow quirked. She gave a guilty smile and explained, "I didn't get a burger for dinner, I got a grilled turkey club. I wanted to taste the burger, see if I liked that as much as my sandwich. It was really good too."

Reno laughed, telling her that was fine, and took out the burger from the bag. He took a bite out of it, just next to where hers had been, and nodded at her. "You're right, this is really good. Thanks. I would say I owe you but..." He trailed off and motioned over his shoulder, at the far wall of the room. Bee looked over, curious as to what he could mean, and gasped at what was in her living room.

A TV, placed carefully on a small wooden table, was placed neatly against the wall. How Bee had not noticed before was beyond her. Perhaps it was the fact that the TV was underneath the window. The light could have distracted her. Either way, she looked back to Reno who watched her with a grin as he ate his burger.

"You... You got me a TV," Bee said in astonishment, moving towards it. She walked slowly, as if she was afraid the TV was just a mirage and would vanish if she got too close to it. She turned back when she heard Reno's grunt of assent, too busy eating to open his mouth. "Why?"

He swallowed and shrugged. "You didn't have one. As a fellow human being I couldn't let you go on any longer without one," he answered dismissively, trying to downplay his kind gesture. He took a bite and watched in satisfaction as Bee moved towards the TV again, stopping just before it and kneeling down in order to get a closer look at it.

She knelt there for a few moments, taking in the buttons that lined the bottom and then turned back to Reno again. "How do I work it?" she asked innocently.

Reno stopped his chewing and stared at Bee for a second before remembering that as someone who had never had a TV before in her life, she probably had no idea how to work one either. He brought his burger down from his face and started to walk to her, noting that she also needed a coffee table in the room, because he had no place to put his burger and was forced to place it back in the bag and then on the ground next to him as he sat down beside her in front of the TV.

"You only have a couch and an armchair in this room, do you realize that?" he asked her dubiously. He motioned in the general direction of the living room behind him. "You don't even have a bookshelf like a normal goody-two-shoes would."

"I have a plant," she pointed out, only a bit defensively. She looked over at the small ficus that was in the corner of the living room, between the couch and the armchair.

"Whoa! A plant!" Reno exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air and going up on his knees, "Ya hear that people?! Miss daring and danger has a ficus in her living room! Watch out for this girl!"

"Hey!" Bee chastised, pushing Reno over, causing him to fall backwards onto her beige carpet. He raised his head from his position and wiggled his eyebrows at her. She laughed at him despite herself and looked around her living room again. "Okay, so maybe the room is a little boring."

"A little?" Reno sat himself upright, stretching his legs out in front of him, knocking his feet against the table the TV was on. "You don't even have any paintings on the wall. The most exciting thing you have in here are the curtains on your window." He jerked his head at the window in front of him, taking in the blue flowing curtains that graced each side of the window.

"I'm never in this room," Bee argued back, pouting now.

"Even your bedroom was more exciting than this," Reno said thoughtfully, "You had the blue curtains in there too, but your bed spread was blue and green stripes, right? And you had pictures in there. Of Aerith, and your friends. And flowers on the window sill. And two decorative lamps. And the carpet was also blue. You gotta thing for blue, don't you?"

Bee stared at him then shook her head. "How did you remember all that? You were only in there once."

"Twice, actually," he corrected her, "You sent me up to get your bracelet." He moved a hand to finger the materia bracelet on her wrist.

"Even still," she pushed, "You remember what my room looks like so well after just two visits?"

"Well sure," he told her with another shrug. He brought his legs back in, sitting pretzel style beside her, still in front of the TV. "Maybe it's a Turk thing, but I always remember what a place looks like after I've been in it one time. You always insult my intelligence, but I wouldn't be a Turk if I was stupid, yo."

Bee's face softened and she looked at Reno apologetically. She had already assumed that he didn't listen to her that day, and now she was just adding insult to injury. She nodded, and tried to make peace by saying, "You're right. I'm sorry. You did a really good job at the shop the other day. So why don't you help me with the TV now, okay?"

He accepted the apology with a grin and a nod then moved forward to point at the TV. "I brought _Materia Rush_ so I'll show you how to work a movie, and we can watch it together. Sound like a plan?"

"Oh," she responded, blushing a bit at how stupid she sounded. She hadn't expected Reno to actually offer to watch something with her. "If you want to."

"I can't just give you a TV and not make you watch something too," he told her as if it was obvious. He pressed a button, telling her it was the power button. He went on to explain how to put a movie in, how to play it, stop it, rewind, and fast forward, pointing to each button on the remote control as he went along. Bee listened closely, not wanting to look stupid in front of him yet again. When he was satisfied with his lesson, he stood up, his burger in hand, and motioned for Bee to follow him to the couch. He dropped himself onto a cushion lazily, and pulled his burger from the bag, finally able to finish it.

"Thanks, by the way," Bee said softly as she sat down on the couch, a good distance between the two, "For the TV. You didn't have to get me it."

"I told you that as a fellow human being, I had to," he said through a mouthful of burger. He swallowed and took the last part of his food into his mouth and gestured to the remote control in Bee's hand. She pressed play and turned to the TV again. "Besides," he continued after he had finished his burger completely, "I got it real cheap from a supplier for Reeve. Turk discount and all."

"Did you hurt someone?" Bee questioned, alarmed at his casual tone.

"No! Geez, I _actually_ get a discount from this guy, yo. I just lied and said it was for headquarters, is all," he told her, frowning at the TV. His face lightened when he heard her laugh at his confession and he turned his head to see her watching him, the glow of the TV soft on her creamy skin. She was smiling, her watermelon and fall afternoon lips teasing him, beckoning him. She had her legs curled up beneath her, her shoes lying on the ground below the couch, and Reno was overwhelmed with how innocent she really was.

Her hands were clean and pure, and gave life to others in a way he could never hope to. A ray of sunshine on an otherwise bleak day. His hands were stained red from all the lives he had taken, his soul blacker than the oil that Edge was using as a power source now. A cloud of gray that came just before the rainfall. He had convinced himself that he had agreed to become her friend in order to have sex with her again, but n the deepest recesses of his mind, he knew that he kept coming around because he hoped that maybe, she would heal him as she had so many others. Maybe her purity would rub off on him. Maybe, she would take away the screams that he heard during his dreams, and wipe away the faces of all his victims from his memories. But in the foreground of his mind, he knew that really all he was doing was tainting her, bringing her closer and closer to a life of regrets. He was already doing it, he knew. And yet, he couldn't, wouldn't, didn't want to, leave her alone. He was going to hold on to her ray of sunshine as long as he could because she was the brightest damn thing he had ever seen.

"Reno?"

Reno realized he had been drifting off in his thoughts, staring at Bee intently without actually seeing her. He watched now as her eyes flashed with concern, and she moved closer to him, waving a hand in front of his face. He caught it, using it to move her closer to his side, situating her so that they were touching. They weren't nuns after all, he thought to himself; they didn't have to sit so damn far away from each other. He draped an arm over her shoulder and turned to the TV screen.

"The movie's on," he pointed out, his voice light and almost airy as he tried to draw her attention away from him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her frown, but turn to watch as the opening title came on, and music began to play in the background. He smirked when she laid her head on his chest, and again when he literally felt her heartbeat quicken in her chest as he absent-mindedly rubbed her arm with his hand.

As they watched the movie together, sitting with Bee's head on Reno's shoulder, his hand still rubbing her arm, a single question echoed throughout Reno's head.

_Even someone like me deserves a ray of light in my life, don't I?_

The question bothered him so much that he asked Tseng about it later on that week. He was reporting in on Bee's progress and delivering her latest batch of antidotes. She had reached a little over a hundred antidotes in just a few days time, and it looked like she would make her deadline after all. Tseng was pleased, knowing that Rufus and Reeve would be pleased even more. Reno was just about to leave Tseng's office when the question burst from his mouth, unbidden and unwanted. He froze in the doorway, shocked at his own loss of control, but turned back to his boss when he heard the man give a dark chuckle.

"You're referring to the alchemist girl, I presume?" Tseng questioned Reno calmly, looking at his subordinate with piercing eyes. He ignored the papers on his desk for the first time that day, devoting his full attention to Reno.

"Bee," Reno corrected him, noting the irony of the fact that Reno himself rarely even called her by that name.

"_Bee_, yes," Tseng repeated with a nod. He motioned for his subordinate to sit in the chair before his desk and waited patiently while Reno had a silent argument in his head over whether to run out of the office and forget he had ever said anything, or to sit and get advice from the one person who could probably give it to him willingly and truthfully. The latter won out and Reno took the seat, avoiding looking Tseng in the eyes.

"Yeah, her," he affirmed with a nod.

Tseng didn't answer at first and instead took in the way Reno sat in the chair. He was surprised to find his fellow Turk, who normally sat in chairs as if he owned the place, was sitting there looking worried and sullen. His eyes were downcast, his hands clasped tightly together in between his legs. He was even hunched over a bit, and Tseng had the sudden urge to yell at him to sit straight and act like a Turk. But he had known Reno longer than anyone, and knew that the man had a will of steel and that if he was sitting like this in front of his own boss, he really was confused, even upset about this girl.

"What exactly is it about her that you are asking me?" Tseng decided to ask, trying to narrow down what was bothering Reno. He already had a guess from Reno's earlier question, but he wanted to be perfectly clear before giving advice.

"I just... Is it wrong that I like being around her?" Reno asked, trying to come up with the proper question.

"No," Tseng told him, "It is your prerogative who you spend your off time with."

"That's not what I meant," Reno retorted.

"You are asking if it is wrong that you, a killer, like being around her, a healer," Tseng clarified. Reno looked up at him and noticed that Tseng was giving him the barest of smirks. "She is well aware of your occupation, isn't she?"

"Well, yeah," Reno agreed with a nod, "But, ya know, she's never actually witnessed it first hand. What if she sees me with blood all over me? What if I'm trying to get home after a job and she's off being all saint-like curing all those people that she loves so damn much, and we just happen to run into each other, and she sees the blood and freaks, and never wants to talk to me ever again because she realizes just how much of a monster I really am?" The words were rushed, a bit jumbled, and full of pain. Reno stood, pacing the room and swinging his arms dramatically as he continued, "Boss, is it wrong to want something that is better than me to actually like me? Is it wrong to want her in my life because I feel like when I'm with her I'm not a killer, I'm just _me? _I'm just_ Reno_. And I haven't been just Reno in... almost fifteen years now. I've been Reno the Turk. Reno second in command. Reno the womanizer. Reno the drunk. But I don't feel like any of those things with her. She looks at me, and I feel like I really am looking at an angel. Which is so _stupid_ because everyone knows angels don't exist. I would know, I've killed enough people, I woulda seen one come take someone by now. But she makes me feel... light, and stupid, and happy all at the same time! How can it be wrong to want that in my life?"

"It's not wrong."

Reno stopped his little tirade and turned to look at his boss. Tseng was watching him with amused eyes and a knowing smile. He placed his hands gently on his desk before him and motioned with his head for Reno to sit again.

"Then why do I feel like every time I go to see her, I'm bringing more and more blood in her house?" Reno asked quietly, situating himself in the chair once more.

"Because, like you said, she's a better human being than you are," Tseng said simply. When Reno looked at him in annoyance, Tseng raised a hand. "Let me explain. It is something that every Turk must face at one point or another in their lifetime. You just... took a little longer than others to find someone who made you feel this way. For some, it is a relative, for others a significant other, and for most, it is a very special friend that they have found throughout their lives. You have just found that friend, Reno, and there is nothing wrong with wanting to be with her. However, as always, you must take caution. Especially in this case. Bee is something you have never experienced before, she is pure, a rarity in this dark time. And while she is not perfect, as demonstrated with her little outburst at the conference, she is the closest you have ever experienced."

"You sound like you're speaking from experience," Reno pointed out, "Still missing Aerith?"

"Reno."

"Sorry, boss."

Tseng's eyes flashed dangerously at Reno only once before he continued.

"Turks are not encouraged to have personal relationships, especially after what happened with Veld. But that does not mean they are forbidden. Even less so now, seeing as how much our jobs have changed. Times for the Turks have changed, Reno. We are bringers of peace, although our mission stays the same; protect Shinra. Rufus's goals have changed. We do not kill as often and when we do it is to restore peace, to protect the WRO. We are trying to atone for our sins. This has been coming for a long time, since Zack." Tseng paused and both he and Reno made involuntary faces of grief. "We owe him and Cloud. You should not be so afraid to become close to someone like Bee in times like this. You should be proud that she took notice of you and was willing to become friends with you. It is an honor that you should not throw away."

Reno looked at his boss in silence. It figured that Tseng would know exactly what to tell Reno; he always did.

"I won't throw it away," Reno promised, standing from the chair, "I still gotta take her mountain climbing, don't I? And redecorate her living room. And get her to get some fucking excitement in her boring life."

"And _not_ get her to sleep with you again, Reno," Tseng reprimanded from his desk. Reno looked back at him in surprise.

"How'd you know about that?" he asked his boss suspiciously, narrowing his eyes.

"How else do you know random girls?" Tseng asked as if it were obvious. Reno scowled but before he could give a come back, Tseng cut him off, "Protect and cherish her for as long as you can, Reno. She is the best thing in your life now. Do not let something like that go."

"Ah." Reno stood up straighter at that, his retort for the earlier comment forgotten. "Right." He nodded and waved at his boss, leaving his office with his usual strut, feeling better about his word vomit earlier.

Tseng watched him leave with a chuckle and a shake of his head. In the silence of the room in Reno's absence, Tseng wondered if he should have told Reno that it was obvious that he was going to, if he wasn't already, fall in love with the girl. Deciding it was better that he hadn't, Tseng turned back to his paper work, going over the number of antidotes Bee had made so far and thinking about how pleased Rufus would be. Anything to distract him from the distant memory of green eyes and a pink bow.

* * *

A/N: I had an extremely hard time writing this chapter. I feel as though everyone sees the Turks in different ways, and one way I see Reno is that he can do nice things for people that he likes and not understand what he is doing is actually really nice and meaningful. He doesn't see that as a big deal. So when he buys Bee the TV it really is because he feels she needs one, and he doesn't realize how big of a deal that present is to her. He also doesn't find sitting next to her as a big deal, obviously he had sex with her and it was nothing.

Also, my vision of Tseng after AC, is that he lives with Aerith's death in the background of his mind. Obviously he and Aerith are not Bee and Reno, but when he sees those two, he is reminded of his own past situation. I don't think he would wish for Reno to miss out. This is obviously my own thought, and I had a very hard time with Tseng in this story. Hopefully, even if you don't see Tseng in this way, you can see where I got my theory on his character (though obviously there is a lot more too him, he just isn't a major character in my story).

Finally, I lied, this is the shortest chapter I have. So sorry, I tried making it longer, but couldn't find anything else to add!

Please review and let me know what you think!


	9. To Not Forgive You

A/N: I just wanted to thank all of my reviewers, you've all been so supportive of this story, and I was very nervous posting a RenoOC story. Your words of encouragement really keep me going :)

* * *

Chapter 9: To Not Forgive You

Reno thought Tseng's words through carefully, taking a full day away from Bee to consider them. He sat silently on his couch at his one bedroom apartment close to the heart of Edge. Maybe Tseng was right, he thought, looking over his collection of movies from his couch. Maybe Reno was really just lucky to have somebody like Bee in his life, and he should cherish that, protect it. He had never considered friendship before, it was almost a foreign concept to him at this point. But after having lived as a Turk for basically half of his life, he had forgotten what it had meant to be really human. He had given up his humanity the moment he made his first kill for the company. Now, Bee was giving him his humanity back. He went to bed each night he had seen her and the screams of his past victims were quieted in his head, his dreams less violent. She represented the innocent life that he could never have, never thought he had event wanted until now. Reno finally understood for the first time in his life why Tseng had been so attracted to Aerith. She was pure good, and when you are a Turk you find yourself thriving off of that goodness, trying to take some for yourself. So he would stick around, he decided, feeding off of her, while she fed off of him, balancing the two out.

He moved off of the couch, passed his coffee table, and sat before his TV so that he could pull out movies. Bee had liked _Materi Rush_, claiming that it was exciting, and she had never actually seen the plate in Midgar before. Though, Reno had admitted that it wasn't entirely realistic; people didn't really go hunting for or selling Materia on chocobos in Midgar on a daily basis. Or ever for that matter. He smiled as he remembered that she looked at him sheepishly and grumbled that she knew that.

He pulled out another movie and looked it over, deciding that he would bring this one to her next. He reached back to his coffee table and grabbed his phone, flipping it open and scrolling through his contacts. It wasn't hard. The only numbers he had in his phone were Tseng, Elena, Rude, Strife Delivery Service, Rufus, Reeve, and Bee. He clicked on her number and waited for her to answer.

She answered after the second ring, her voice crackling as the sound of cars driving by skewed her receiver. "Reno? Did you forget something at my house the other day?"

"No," he said quickly, looking down at his movie again, gripping it tightly in his hand and keeping his eyes on it as he took a deep breath. "I wanted to meet you for dinner, then show you another movie."

"You want to _what_?" she had asked him, her voice crackling again on the other line. Reno heard what sounded like a motorcycle go by.

"Meet you for dinner. You're going soon, right? We can go back to your place after and watch the next movie I have for you," he told her, becoming proud of his own idea. Really, it was one of his best. This was the perfect way to see her again.

He worried when she didn't answer right away. Maybe he hadn't thought this through, he usually didn't when it came to something that didn't involve the Turks. Maybe he was being too presumptuous. He wasn't good at normal social relationships, no Turk was. Maybe Tseng had been wrong. Maybe-

"Are you trying to get me to sleep with you again?" Her voice sounded again on the other line, interrupting his little mind questionnaire. "Because I already told you that I don't-"

"No!" Reno cut her off quickly. He knew it was too presumptuous. Man, had he screwed up. "I just want to eat dinner and watch a movie with you! You always eat alone. That's so boring. After the movie you can go play with the little girl or whatever it is you normally do," he said, referring to Marlene at 7th Heaven.

"Alright..." she assented slowly, caution and suspicion still in her voice. "What movie?"

"A comedy," Reno said, looking at the movie he had picked out, "It's one of the best ones Midgar has to offer."

"Okay," Bee agreed, "I guess I can let you invade my house for a laugh. I'm going to this small little diner tonight. Called _Darma's Dine-In_. You know where that is?"

"Yeah, I do," Reno said, not mentioning that the Turks had eaten there on occasion. Diners were good places to remain inconspicuous as there were always many different types of people that ate there. Turks weren't even the only people in suits half the time they went. "When will you be there?"

"Umm... Maybe a half hour? I have one last patient to see, and then I will be heading there," Bee said, and Reno had to strain to hear her answer, her line was so full of static.

"What's with the fuzz?" Reno asked, standing up with the movie still in his grasp. He grabbed his EMR off of the couch and tucked it in the loop on his pants, folding his shirt over it.

"Oh, that's probably the wind. It's really windy on top of the bank," Bee replied nonchalantly.

"You're on top of the _bank_?" Reno asked, completely bewildered, and even more worried for the girl, "That's the highest building in Edge!"

"Yeah, it is," Bee answered, still completely at ease with her situation, "But it's on the way, and it's very easy to climb up."

"Bee that's dangerous!" Reno yelled into the phone, rushing to get to the door of his apartment. He swung it open hastily, and slammed it behind him, almost dashing down the hallway to the stair case that would lead him to the streets below.

"Are you worried about me, Turk?" Bee teased, "I've done it plenty of times. It's perfectly safe."

"Plenty of times? You're insane! Forget what I said, you have plenty of excitement in your life!" he replied sarcastically, still yelling. He had reached the streets now and was running in the direction of the bank.

"I'll get down if it will make you feel better," she bargained, "It doesn't take long. The bank has a lot of ledges. Here..." Her voice drifted off, caught in the wind and Reno held his breath, and felt his heart race, hitting his ribs almost painfully, as he waited for her to respond.

"Bee?!" he yelled after she didn't respond for a whole minute.

"What?" she asked in annoyance, "I'm just... There! I'm back on the street."

"I don't understand you!" He basically pouted into the phone, annoyed that she had managed to worry him so much, "You aren't willing to get drunk more than a few nights a month, you've never watched TV, you spend most of your day slaving away in your shop, and then the rest being a fucking angel, yet you climb the highest building in the city like it's no big fucking deal!"

"Climbing things is the only thing that reminds me of the slums," she said seriously. Her line conveyed the sounds of cars again, and Reno knew that she was walking towards her patient's house again. "And it's easier to see the sky. I couldn't ever see the sky in the slums."

"Whatever," he dismissed, "Just stay on the street where it's safe and I will meet you at that diner, okay?"

"Okay, see you then," she affirmed before hanging up.

Reno hung up with a sigh, suddenly realizing that protecting her would require a lot of more work than he had anticipated, especially if she took his offer to bring more excitement to her life seriously. The girl apparently had serious thrill issues.

"Alway the quiet ones," he grumbled, crossing the street and making his way to _Dinah's Dine-In_.

Bee met him outside the diner a little over twenty minutes later. When she asked him how long he had been waiting, Reno tried his best to play it off like he had just gotten there. He didn't want her to know that he had left early, trying to reach her at the bank because he was worried that she would fall and hurt herself. It worked.

A hostess sat the two in a booth and gave them menus. Bee flipped through hers quickly, noticing that Reno didn't flip through his at all. He instead was looking around the diner, taking in every customer sitting down, every waitress that walked by, every cook behind the counter. She decided not to point it out, and ignored it instead with the understanding that in Reno's line of work, he could never be too cautious. She turned back to her menu, going through it slower this time, stopping at individual items that she would be interested in getting. When a waitress came to take their drink order, she asked politely for a water, while Reno asked for a cola. He scoffed playfully at Bee after the waitress had left.

"What now?" Bee asked exasperatedly.

"Even your drink choice is bland," he pointed out.

"It's _healthy_," she argued back, "And besides, you just admitted that my climbing was pretty exciting."

"No, I think you're climbing is your way of overcompensating for you boring life, and downright fucking _insane_!" he rushed back, pointing at Bee accusingly. "I wouldn't even do something like that!"

"It's the only other thing that I'm good at besides making products for my shop," she said sullenly, leaning back as her water was placed in front of her. She thanked the waitress and when asked for her order, replied that she wanted a cheeseburger and fries. She had been craving them since she took a bite of Reno's the other day. He ordered the same, handing both their menus to the waitress with a sultry smile, causing the woman to blush and run off with their orders.

"You're the biggest goody-two-shoes I've ever met in my life. You have to be good at something else," he told her seriously, not realizing that he was in no way complimenting her.

"You mean like you're good at getting women to have sex with you?" she retorted sarcastically. She motioned to the waitress who was eyeing Reno from behind the counter where she had placed their orders on a pin for the cook.

"Yeah," he said, very seriously. He ignored the stern look Bee gave him in favor of flashing the waitress a grin, and cocking an eyebrow in her direction. The waitress eyed him in what Bee could describe as hungrily, and then turned around to head to another table. Reno did not miss the way her hips swayed suggestively as she walked, and Bee did not miss Reno watching.

"Is that the kind of woman you like?" she asked him, her voice gruff. She found that she was unusually jealous of Reno's attention on another girl. She knew how much of a flirt he was, she had experienced and even succumb to it first hand. Seeing it in action on another woman was entirely different, and Bee despised the jealousy that bubbled up in her gut. She and Reno were friends, she told herself. Her night with him meant nothing to the Turk, a fact she had still not resolved with herself.

"Hmm?" Reno asked distractedly, looking away from the waitress and back at Bee. She tried to hide her jealousy and knew that she failed when he grinned at her knowingly. However, he decided to ignore it and responded, "Nah, I like smaller girls. With brown hair, high foreheads, gray eyes and pink lips that taste like watermelon." He stopped himself from saying more, berating himself for mentioning the watermelon lips out loud.

Bee looked at him, simply confounded at his words. She had been playing with the wrapper to her straw, but now it sat dejectedly in front of her, curled awkwardly in a figure eight. Reno waited in anticipation, hoping that she wouldn't bug him further about it because he honestly didn't know what to say back. To his surprise and utter horror, she began laughing at him. Really laughing, one that came from her stomach and shook her shoulders, causing her to hunch over in the booth. It was the first time he had ever seen her laugh so hard, and of course it was at his expense.

"It's not funny!" he cried indignantly, but that only set her off further. He heard her say in between breaths to not sound like a girl, and he crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. The waitress he had flirted with watched them with narrowed eyes, but Reno ignored her. "Bee. It wasn't funny. Knock it off."

Slowly, her laughter died down, and began small spurts of giggles that she tried to cover with her hand. "I'm sorry. Just... watermelon? That's different. You get all the girls with that? 'Hey, babe. Your lips taste like watermelon. Let me be the grapes and we can mix together to make fruit salad.'" She had lowered her voice to try and imitate his, and failed miserably.

"That," he said, finally getting his good humor back, "was horrible. Fruit salad? Now maybe if you said, 'I've got a banana that would fit perfectly with your watermelon' that would make more sense."

He was the one to laugh this time as Bee's face turned a bright red, and she excused herself to the bathroom she was so embarrassed by his comment. He laughed her entire walk to the bathroom, and when she exited, he laughed again when he noticed that her cheeks were still tinged with pink. She ignored him, and was glad their food had arrived while she was gone. She grabbed the ketchup before Reno could, and squeezed some on to her burger before taking a bite out of it.

"We're even," he told her cockily, fixing up his own burger. He was rewarded with an angry grumble and a reluctant nod, and he chuckled.

They sat in silence for the next few minutes, eating their matching meals in eagerness. Bee was always starving by the time she had gotten to all of her patients, as using magic used a lot of her energy. It was why she never waited to get to Tifa's to eat and always ended her visits at a house near the place she planned on eating that day. She was thinking about how her friend would react when she heard that Bee had blown her off to spend the night hanging out with Reno when the Turk in question finally spoke up again.

"You had the stigma, right?" he asked her, remembering that she had mentioned that she was in Aerith's church when Cloud had found her. She had gone to be cured, she had told him.

"Yeah, I did," she replied with a nod, "Why?"

"What happened when you got it?" he asked, "Rufus had it too, but he didn't like to acknowledge the fact that he did, so I never understood it completely."

"I got it on Meteorfall," she told him, thinking back to that day, "I heard that a lot of people that got it that day died almost instantly. But I had it for nearly two years, and I even managed to travel around what was left of the slums, healing survivors while I had it. Cloud told me the stigma was a result of Sephiroth's evil tainting the Lifestream, and that Aerith's existence in the Lifestream tried to battle it. I think that's why I didn't die. I was in Aerith's church the day of Meteorfall too, so I was exposed directly to the Lifestream. It came from the flower patch. It felt... like her."

Reno nodded. "Even the Turks felt her in it."

"Right. I think my exposure to the Lifestream that Aerith's presence was in protected me from the full extent of the tainted Lifestream. I didn't get the full brunt of Sephiroth's evil. Aerith managed to protect me, even then. Having the stigma was... painful. Very painful." Bee placed her burger down, and Reno paused from eating his as well, giving her his full attention. "It covered the right side of my neck and shoulder, which made it even more difficult to use my magic as that's my prominent hand. Sometimes, I would pass out after healing a particularly difficult injury. Or other times people would hesitate to let me heal them because of the stigma. They would be afraid to let me near them. It was... difficult, and upsetting to keep being rejected when all I wanted was to help them. I honestly don't know how I managed to survive for two years, but I really think Aerith was guiding me, keeping me safe, urging me to keep going on, helping despite it all. It was a strange disease, I couldn't heal it, couldn't create a potion or an antidote to ward it off. I'd never felt so helpless in my whole life."

Her voice broke at that, and she hated how weak she sounded. Reno had probably been through a lot worse than a stupid disease. Really, she was still just in awe that nothing she did could beat the stigma. All of her lessons in alchemy were naught when it came to the stigma, and she had watched so many people die because of her short-comings. She told Reno this, and he scowled at her.

"It wasn't your fault," he assured her, his voice gentle and betraying the scowl he wore, "It was Sephiroth's."

"And Shinra's." Bee couldn't help herself. It needed to be said, and she didn't regret pointing it out.

"And Shinra's," Reno repeated with a sigh, but said nothing else.

"Can we leave?" Bee asked, noticing that they had both finished their burgers, and not wanting to linger any longer. Reno agreed and then asked for the check. The waitress hurried over, dropping the check in front of Reno with a flourish, and Bee didn't miss the wink she gave him before scurrying away.

"How much do I owe you?" She made to grab the check in order to see, but Reno pulled it away before she could reach it. "Hey!"

"Don't worry 'bout it, bug," he told her, avoiding looking her in the eyes, "I got this one." He shoved a hand into his pocket and pulled out a fistful of gil, placing it on the booth and then standing before Bee could protest any further. She followed behind him as he hurried out of the diner, and frowned when she saw that he was carrying the check in one hand. They exited the diner and Bee frowned up at him.

"What's wrong with you? You took the check but left the money."

"Don't worry 'bout it, bug," he repeated, walking to the nearest trashcan and throwing the check away in it. Bee followed him as he walked away, but as she passed the trash can an idea struck her.

"She wrote her number on the check, didn't she?" His lack of response was all she needed as confirmation. "Reno, why would you throw that out? Here, let me go get it..." She turned to go back to the trashcan when she felt Reno's hand on her wrist, pulling her backwards.

"Little bug, _why_ would you go and grab a number that I obviously didn't want?" he asked her dubiously. Sometimes, he really just didn't understand her. Such as right now.

"Because you were interested in her, and she gave you her number," she stated as if it were obvious, "You should go get it and call her and-"

"And what?" he asked, throwing her off with the sudden anger in his voice, "Go watch a movie with you and then leave your house, call that waitress up, and invite her to go fuck at my place? Because I can't get you to have meaningless sex with me again, I should just go and fuck the first whore that passes my way?" Irrational anger coursed through him, and he pushed away the thought that he was really only angry in order to cover up the fact that he got caught throwing away a girl's number because he wasn't really interested in anyone but the one he was currently with.

"What are you talking about?" Bee cried, tears forming in her eyes. She tugged on the wrist that Reno had a hold of, but he didn't let go. His eyes flashed at her, and she felt the first tear drop from her eye "I just didn't think it was right that you throw away her number like that. She gave it to you for a reason... Maybe she thought you were interested in her...Ah. Oh. I..."

"You forgot that I like crushing innocent hearts like yours when you figure out that all I want is one night of mind-blowing sex, and then I throw you away like trash," he supplied. That's right, be angry that she would think better of you. Be angry that she has hopes for you that you can never live up to.

"Reno, come on. Stop. I made a mistake and I'm sorry. You know I don't look at you that way. You're my friend! My friend! I'm so so-sorry. S-sorry. P-please," she was sobbing now, and was trying to pull Reno into the nearest alleyway as his outburst was gaining the attention of the people walking by.

Her sobs slapped him out of his tirade, and horror appeared on his face. He too glanced around to see people slowing in their walks to get a glimpse of what was going on. He hastily pulled on the wrist he was still holding, and dragged her into the alleyway she was headed for. It was there that he pulled her into his arms and cradled her head to his chest with his hand. He stroked her hair and looked for the right words that could possibly make it better. Of course she had just wanted him to take the number because it was the right thing to do. Of course she didn't think about what he would actually do with that number. Of course she just wanted to make Reno happy because she was Bee the Angel, and he was Reno the Fuck Up. Reno the Fuck Up When it Really Matters.

"Bee..." he began, his voice low and weak, "Bee, no. Don't be sorry. I'm the one who is wrong. So wrong. You think too much of me, bug. I'm not like you. I'm..." He trailed off, feeling thoroughly awkward. He had never apologized for anything in his life. "I'm sorry..."

Bee listened to his apology, his voice breaking through her sobs. She had been so scared there for a minute that he was so angry with her that he would stop being friends with her, and she didn't know if she could take that. Reno was the first person to take such an interest in her life, and having that taken away from her so suddenly as it appeared would crush her.

She snaked her arms behind his back and pulled herself closer to him, burying her head even further into his chest, angling her head to the side so that her mascara wouldn't run onto his white shirt. She noticed that he kept his hands on her forearms, perched delicately as if any amount of pressure would break skin. She clutched his back harder in consolation, holding onto the fabric of his jacket like a life line, knowing that if she let go, she would sink into the pavement in a snotty, watery mess.

"You let me think whatever I want of you, okay?" she cried into his chest, trying as hard as she could to calm herself down. She took a deep breath in, smelling the fabric softener of Reno's Turk suit, and finding it terribly ironic that a killer use fabric softener.

Not knowing what else to say, Reno weaved his arms around her back, holding her tighter this time, and nodded against her head. "Sure, bug. Whatever you want."

Bee nodded in return, her hair brushing underneath Reno's nose. "I want to go home and watch that movie, and I never want you to tell me what you think I feel about you again. Not when it's so negative."

He wanted to laugh at that, but thought back to his conversation with Tseng and decided better. He knew that Bee saw him in a way that he himself could never imagine. He knew he would never live up to her expectations of him. He knew he could never be the man that Bee needed. But maybe, for once in his life, he could be the friend that she needed. So he agreed to take her home, and gently moved her from his chest. She looked up at him, her tears finally stopping, and she gave him the barest of smiles, and he knew he didn't deserve that either. So he did the only thing he could do as her friend; he wiped her tears away with his thumbs and told her that the movie would make her feel better, and that he would never yell at her like that again. He would never make her cry again, he swore silently to himself. He walked her home with an arm around her shoulder, trying to comfort her with his embrace, and with every step he took towards her house he promised himself over and over again that he would never cause her pain like that again. He was supposed to protect her from that pain, cherish the fact that she had agreed to be her friend. Starting today, he would try his hardest to be the man that she saw when she looked up at him with her innocent smile.

Bee had calmed considerably by the time they made it back to her place, her eyes appearing less red and the tears finally gone from her face. She even smiled at Reno when he popped the movie into her TV, and leant her head on his chest as he had prompted her to last time. He put his arm around her, pausing for only a moment and wondering if he even deserved to touch her that way, but she had looked up at him when she felt his hesitation. She grabbed his arm and finished his movement for him, situating his arm on her waist instead of her shoulder, surprising him.

"You forgive too easily," he told her as the opening credits appeared on the TV.

"Maybe people don't forgive enough," she argued back in a whisper. He didn't respond, so she continued, "Besides... You've done too much for me to not forgive you."

"You're crazy."

"You've told me. So which is it? I'm crazy or I'm boring?"

"Both."

Bee sighed, the action raising her shoulders and causing her to shift by his side, but she said nothing back as the movie had officially started. Reno was elated to hear her laugh within the first ten minutes of the movie, and he felt himself slowly start to relax, glad that she had forgiven him. But he found it was harder for him to laugh throughout the movie, as the thought that he had caused her to cry hung over his head. How stupid he had been, yelling at her like that. How stupid of her to forgive him so easily.

The movie ended a little over two hours later, and Bee smiled happily up at Reno, telling him that she had enjoyed the movie a lot. He told her he was glad, and would bring another movie later on in the week, and she accepted eagerly. She noticed that he still appeared uncomfortable and was about to tell him that she wasn't upset with him when her phone rang. She grabbed it from her backpack quickly, and noticed that Reeve was the one that was calling her. She looked at Reno and showed him her phone, but he only shrugged, really having no idea why he would be calling her. So she answered, holding the phone up to her ear warily.

"Reeve, is something wrong?" she asked into the receiver.

"No, not at all," his voice sounded from the other end, and Bee was surprised to hear that his voice was eager. "I have very good news actually!"

"Good news?" Bee repeated in confusion. "About what?"

"I've found your brother, Bee," Reeve told her, his voice still delighted, "He was stationed in Kalm at the time of Meteorfall. I found him easily because he returned to Midgar afterwards to help with cleanup. He's been working with the WRO this whole time as a soldier. He was accepted without training because of his SOLDIER background. I called him to my office, and told him that you were looking for him. He was confused, you don't go by your real name anymore, but I told him you were making antidotes for our armies and he immediately knew it was you. He wants to see you."

"Toby... Toby wants to see me?" Bee asked, having a hard time finding her voice. Reno looked over at her in concern, but she ignored him. Her brain felt fuzzy, and she had to remember to breath again.

"Yes," Reeve confirmed, "He's here at headquarters. I can have a chopper bring you tomorrow if you want."

"Oh... okay. I can do that," Bee agreed, nodding her head furiously, her head still fuzzy. She felt a buzzing in her ears and Reno was no longer visible to her even though he was still next to her. "Can I bring Tifa with me?"

"Of course. Toby asked about where you were staying. If you had people taking care of you. I told him you were in good hands. I'm sure he'd like to thank Tifa," Reeve told her. He was still excited with his achievement and didn't seem to notice the weakness of Bee's voice.

"Reeve, please just... tell him I don't go by my old name anymore. Tell him I go by Bee. Please?" Bee asked him, a hint of desperation in her voice. She hadn't heard her real name in over four years, and she didn't want to start hearing it now.

"Ah, sure. If that's what you want."

"It is."

"Okay then. I will be sure to tell him. I will send a chopper to get you tomorrow morning just outside of Edge. Tifa will know where. I will call her and let her know what's going on."

"Okay. Thank you, Reeve. For doing this."

"Nothing could ever repay you for what you are doing for the WRO, Bee," Reeve assured her, "I will see you tomorrow."

"Right, tomorrow. Good-bye." Bee hung up her phone quickly and dropped it into her lap where she proceeded to stare at it. She didn't even hear Reno call her name from next to her. She wasn't even aware of him until he shook her shoulder, really worried now. She looked up at him with clouded eyes. "Huh?"

"I asked who Toby was. What's with you? This a secret lover or something?" Reno asked, still concerned and just barely annoyed.

"It's... Toby is..." Bee cleared her throat and tried again. "Toby is my older brother."

Reno stared at her, thinking that over. "Should I worry?"

"What?" Bee asked, thrown off by the question.

"Well, I banged his sister," he stated with a shrug, "He may want to kill me."

"It's not like that's how I'm going to start off the conversation!" she cried indignantly. Reno laughed at her and she scowled up at him. "In fact, I'm not going to mention it at all."

"That probably a good idea," he agreed with a nod. "So, what's the deal? You never mentioned you had a brother."

"Because I didn't know he was alive. He was in SOLDIER, 2nd-class. I thought he died when the Shinra building exploded. But Reeve told me he was in Kalm, and that he's still alive," she explained, still a bit dazed. She stared out the window behind the TV and watched as the sky slowly began to change colors as the sun set in the distance. "He... he wants to see me."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Reno asked, still confused by the whole thing, "Shouldn't you be just a little bit more excited? Or a lot more?"

"The last two times I saw my brother... We argued. He left me and my mom in the slums, and never came back to help us. He left us to pursue some stupid dream with a corrupt company while my mom and I... while we..." Bee felt tears well up in her eyes and she blinked rapidly in order to get them to go away. She couldn't finish her sentence and she continued to stare out the window.

"Ah. I see." Reno didn't know what else to say. He had never really had a family. The closest thing he had were the Turks, and he never had normal familial functions with them. "Listen... I'm sure it will be fine. I'm sure he's forgotten all about your argument."

"Yeah, he probably has," Bee admitted, "But I haven't."

Reno was thrown by this. Bee had just said minutes before the people needed to forgive more easily. Yet she was still clinging to an argument that had happened years ago, and with her brother of all people. He pointed this out to her and she shrugged.

"Guess I'm not as angelic as you think I am," she retorted sullenly, standing up and turning the TV off. Behind her, the sun finally made its way below the buildings of Edge and its last rays of light were slowly dissipating.

"You let me think whatever I want about you," he shot back, also standing.

"If I did that, you'd think about me naked all the time." She paused, and looked up at him with wide eyes, surprised at her own joke. He stared back down, and there was a moment of silence before Reno began laughing at her, both at her joke and her reaction to it.

"You're crazy," he repeated for the umpteenth time that day.

"Then why do you stick around?" she asked, though her lips were smiling again as she handed him his movie back.

"Because I'm trying to get you back in bed again, remember?" He looked down at her and wiggled his eyebrows at her and she laughed again, and shoved him playfully.

"Go home, Turk. I have to sleep now. I have to wake up early tomorrow," she told him quietly, walking out of her living room. He followed behind her, and gave her a wave before saying good night and disappearing down the stairs. Bee made her way to her bedroom and found herself walking to her open window and peering out of it. Reno was walking out of her shop and was headed down the street when he turned around. He saw her looking out her window and she flushed, embarrassed that he had caught her. He only smiled at her, gave her another wave, and then slipped around a nearby corner and out of her sight. She stood at the window even after he had gone, wishing on every star she saw in the sky that he would come walking back, and into her house, and make her laugh just one more time before she went to sleep, because Shiva, did she know she was going to need it.


	10. Take Care of You

A/N: sorry for the delay in uploading this chapter, it was my university's homecoming this past weekend. Needless to say, I was distracted all weekend long!

Also, Heve-chan, a faithful reader and reviewer was really awesome and made a youtube video for this story! Go here  
watch?v=O2dzkFK9aDE&feature= and leave a comment! It's really so well done. Be aware, Bee is being portrayed by Rinoa from FFVIII, as she wears blue a lot, has dark hair, and is often shown with angel wings/feathers. Please watch!

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Chapter 10: Take Care of You

It was just past dawn when Bee woke up to get ready to leave for the WRO. She showered quickly and ate a light breakfast, knowing that eating more would most likely make her sick on the helicopter ride. She packed an overnight bag, not knowing if she would need it or not; Reeve hadn't said whether or not she would be staying the night, and she hadn't asked. She left a note on the shop door letting her customers know that the store would be closed for the day, but would reopen in the afternoon tomorrow. She locked the door behind her, and walked briskly down her street, making her way to the 7th Heaven Bar.

Tifa was already up and busy going over things with Yuffie and Marlene both of whom would apparently be looking after the bar for the day as Cloud was away on a delivery. The three girls greeted Bee with smiling faces, with an added hug from Marlene. Bee was relieved to notice that Tifa had a bag packed as well, she wasn't the only one to think of it. Shelke and Denzel were still sleeping, Tifa informed Bee, so the wouldn't be able to say goodbye to them. Tifa left a note instead, and the two older girls left the bar, giving goodbye hugs to the two younger ones before walking out.

Tifa lead Bee to almost the outskirts of Edge where an airship and helicopter landing was stationed. There was a single Shinra helicopter there, the pilot standing just in front of it. He introduced himself as a pilot for the WRO, giving his name and shaking hands with Tifa and Bee. They gave polite smiles and then loaded themselves into the chopper's back seats and fastened themselves in. They were given big green headphones, so that they could talk to each other over the roar of the propellers, the pilot told them. Two minutes later they were in the air and headed for the WRO headquarters. The pilot told them that it wouldn't take as long as an airship would, Shinra helicopters were built for speed and they would arrive by early afternoon because of their early start.

"Are you okay, Bee?" Tifa's voice asked over the headphones. Bee had been staring out the helicopter window, watching the ground zip by in dizzying speeds. The helicopter made her extremely nervous. Slum girls were never meant to leave the ground, she decided. At least, never in a big metal flying machine.

"I don't like flying hunks of metal," Bee responded through gritted teeth, turning to face Tifa instead of watching outside and wondering just how long she would have to wait for impact into the earth if the helicopter went down.

Tifa chuckled at that but shook her head. "No, I meant are you okay about today? About seeing Toby? You never talk about him, just that he was in SOLDIER and you thought he had died on Meteorfall."

Bee looked down at her hands shamefully, unable to look Tifa in the eye. "Toby... Toby and I didn't end things well before he left. Or when he came back." She recounted the story of her two arguments with her brother to Tifa, her eyes firmly focused on her hands the whole time. When she finished the story she looked back up at Tifa and said, "I love my brother, I really do. But I was just so angry at him for leaving his family. My mom and I, we worked so hard to get by. If you think I work hard now... You would be shocked to have seen what I was like back then. It was necessary to survive. But Toby... he threw us away and went off to work for the company that was killing the planet, the reason everyone was in the slums in the first place. The people who hunted Aerith and took Zack away! He went and stayed in his comfy little Shinra world while we starved in the slums! And he didn't even care. And I... I have never forgiven him for it."

Tifa listened to Bee in silence, taking in every word with consideration. It was unlike Bee to become so emotional, especially when the emotion was anger. It was even more unlike Bee to hold a grudge, though from what Tifa understood, she probably would have held a grudge were she in Bee's position as well. It was also unlike Bee to be a hypocrite. Bee had slept with a man working for Shinra, although Bee had felt much guilt over this, and so Tifa decided not to mention it. She delicately placed a hand on one of Bee's and squeezed it, trying to convey some sense of comfort to her friend.

"Bee... It will be okay. I'm sure Toby has realized what he did. I'm sure he's eager to make it all up to you," Tifa told her in a quiet voice that she hoped was soothing. Bee's face softened and she nodded, taking hold of Tifa's hand in turn.

"Hopefully," she said with a nod, "I mean, I thought he was dead. I thought my family was _gone_. It's very overwhelming to suddenly find out that he is alive. It's just too much to take in."

"Then don't think about it right now," Tifa suggested, "You've got all day to talk to him, why don't you worry about it then. Thinking about it now will not change what happens when you see him."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Bee relented, some of the tension slowly leaving her shoulders. She looked out the window again and noticed that they were crossing a small span of water. "Tifa, can I ask a favor?"

"Of course, anything."

"Can you help me pick decorations out for my living room?"

"What?" Tifa laughed at Bee's question, but when the younger girl turned to look at her again, she noticed that Bee's face was serious.

"Reno told me that my living room was boring," she said with a scowl, "And I actually think he's right. So I want to buy paintings, or like a mirror, or _something_ for the room to look nicer."

"Reno told you that?" Tifa questioned, completely shocked.

"Yeah," Bee affirmed. She was still scowling when she went on, "He thinks my whole _life_ is boring, so he's been getting me to watch movies, and bought me a TV, and thinks I should redecorate, and he wants to take me mountain-climbing, but I don't think he will actually do that."

"You've been hanging out with Reno?"

"Yeah, I told you already that we decided to be friends," Bee reminded her, her scowl turning into a simple frown, feeling that Tifa should have remembered that.

"No, no, I remember," Tifa told her with a shake of her head and a wave of her hands, "It's just... Cloud and I really didn't think that was going to mean anything. Just... you would be civil towards each other. You actually see him on a daily basis?"

"Well, I saw him when he took care of my shop that first day, and then when he got me the TV, and then when he wanted to eat dinner with me and then watch a movie again, and that was last night. And I already knew him from the bar, and from the meeting. We've talked a lot. I like his company." Bee ticked off times she had actually spent time with Reno on her finger tips, looking up at the top of the helicopter as she did so. When she looked back at Tifa, the martial artist was giving her a strange look. "What?"

"That's where you were last night? I was wondering why you didn't come to play with Marlene. I was worried, you come to the bar every night," Tifa said, not able to keep the astonishment from her voice.

"See?" Bee exclaimed, pointing at Tifa for emphasis, "I do the same thing every day. Wake up, eat, work at the shop, take care of patients, eat again, go to the bar, go home, shower, sleep, in that order. Every single day. Reno told me I don't do anything fun."

"You really take what he says into consideration, don't you?"

"Well... I thought it over, and I decided he was right."

"I guess so."

They sat in silence again for the next hour until Tifa finally spoke up again.

"Do you like him?"

"Huh?" Bee was startled by Tifa's words. She had just started to drift off to sleep, and the question jolted her awake.

"Do you like Reno?"

"Well, sure. I said we were friends. I wouldn't be friends with someone I didn't like."

"That's not what I meant," Tifa said impatiently. She had spent the last hour thinking about why Bee would dwell on Reno's words so much. Though admittedly, nobody else had told Bee before that her routine life was a bit drab. They had just assumed that she was happy with having the same routine every day. Some people were. When Tifa and Cloud had found Bee, she was a broken slum-girl who hadn't been in a normal society in over two years. She could barely even dress herself, and she barely slept. Tifa had often caught her crying in her bed at night. She had taken Aerith's death extremely hard, as it had been almost of a last straw for Bee. Her family was gone, her best friend and best friend's boyfriend were gone, her whole life was gone. Tifa had assumed that the routine lifestyle was Bee's way of managing starting over, and it worked for her. She had never lived on her own before, maybe doing the same things every day helped her to keep herself sane. Now, Tifa was having doubts about that. Maybe Bee just didn't even know any better. Maybe she was still grieving over her friends' and family's deaths.

"What then?" Bee asked her.

"Do you like Reno as more than a friend?" Tifa elaborated, "I know that Vincent talked to you about Reno. He's dangerous. The life of a Turk means that he doesn't make relationships with people. It's weird he's even spending as much time with you as he has been."

"I know that," Bee answered, coming off just a bit defensively, "But I think he's funny, and he's taken an interest in my life, and if he's willing to spend time with me then I'm going to let him."

"You didn't answer my question," Tifa accused, a smile on her face as she looked at her friend.

"I don't... I don't know," Bee answered unsurely. She had never really thought about it. She had already slept with Reno, the most intimate action you could perform with another person, so when she cuddled with him on the couch, it hadn't seemed awkward to her. Their relationship was strange, Bee knew, but she had never realized just how strange it was. Normal friends didn't watch movies while sitting on a couch the way they did. Friends didn't kiss the other person out of nowhere and for no reason like Reno had done back at the meeting at headquarters. And friends didn't flirt with each other the way Reno did all the time. But Bee couldn't say that they were more than friends either. They hadn't slept together since that first night, Bee refused to let them do that. They didn't kiss again after that first time. They didn't go out on dates; Bee didn't classify the diner as a date. There was a certain boundary that Reno and Bee had set up unconsciously between the two of them, and neither one dared cross it. So Bee had stayed on the one side, never even thinking about crossing, until now.

She definitely found Reno attractive. Heck, if she was being honest with herself, she thought he was the most gorgeous man she had ever met in her entire life. She liked his humor, his personality. He had that playfulness that Bee had never found in anyone else before except maybe Aerith, though they were obviously nothing alike. Bee hated that Reno was a Turk above all else, and hated that he had such lose morals. When they were together, however, she seemed to forget about all that. When she was with Reno, he was just her friend, just _Reno_. And he was slowly showing her a new way of life that she had never known before. She was making more jokes now, watching movies, considering decorating her house, experiencing jealousy for the first time, all because of him. Her heart always sped up when she was around him, and she found it easier to laugh. But did that mean that she liked him romantically?

"I like being around him," she admitted to Tifa, "But I never thought about him that way."

"Well, you've dated two guys already," Tifa pushed, trying to get more out of her friend, "Does this feel similar?"

"No," Bee denied immediately, "Being around Reno is easier. I don't feel like I have to try so hard around him. Like he won't judge me if I say something stupid. I feel... safer with Reno than I did with them."

Even that didn't really help Tifa. "I think you should think about it," she told Bee, "If you find that you do... it could complicate your friendship very quickly."

"Are you telling me I shouldn't have feelings for him?"

Tifa sighed, wondering herself where she was going with this. "No, that's not really what I'm saying. You can't help the way you feel about someone, nobody can. But having feelings for Reno will most likely end with you getting your heart broken. I'm not saying Reno is a bad guy, I'm saying he's got a job that turns him in to a bad guy. Reno on his own is fun to be around, I agree. But he's done some very horrible things in his life, and may do some more down the road. It's not worth involving yourself in."

"I know," Bee confirmed with a nod. She did know. She had told herself this when she had decided to become friends with him. Having a Turk for a friend wasn't exactly the best thing in the world. Her talk with Vincent had only reinforced this. "But when he hangs out with me, he's not a Turk. So I'm going to continue to be his friend."

"I agree completely, Bee. Just... Be careful, okay?" Tifa looked down at Bee in concern. Bee had already been broken so badly, Tifa didn't know if the girl could take being broken again.

"I will, I promise Tifa. Thank you." Bee smiled. Tifa was always such the mother hen.

They lapsed into silence again, this time for the rest of the flight and Bee managed to finally nap. When Tifa woke her when they had arrived, she had to unstick her forehead from the glass window. She rubbed it furiously, knowing that it would be red, and Tifa laughed at her. She rubbed it all the way to the stairs that lead to the headquarter building, where Reeve was standing waiting for them. He gave Tifa and Bee both hugs, and told Bee that the reunion would take place in the conference room that she had been in before. He lead the way, and invited Bee to enter into the room alone, telling her that Tifa would join when she was ready. She should meet her brother again on her own. Bee nodded, took a deep breath and opened the door to the room and entered, ignoring how weak her knees felt.

Toby sat at the table Bee had sat at just weeks before, his hands knotted nervously together in front of him. He was wearing the WRO soldier outfit, his helmet on the chair next to him, and Bee noticed that he had a few stripes on his shoulder signifying that he was an officer in the WRO, another reason why it had probably been so easy for Reeve to identify him. He had cut his hair from the last time she saw him, it flopped over his forehead but not longer reached his shoulders. Bee noticed that he had a high forehead too, something she had forgotten, but his hair was a darker brown then hers was, and his eyes were a lighter shade of hazel. She had her father's eyes, something her mother always hated.

He looked up at her then, finally noticing that she had entered the room. She closed the door behind herself and stood awkwardly in front of it, unsure of how to proceed. Toby however, took the lead as he leapt from his chair, almost knocking it over in the process. He caught it before it fell, and Bee could not help the giggle that escaped from her. He looked at her in surprise, and smiled.

"Hey," he said, his voice low. She remembered that he had just turned twenty-six. He looked more like a man now than he had when he came to visit her, all those years ago. He towered over her small frame, and she had to crane her neck to look up at him after his approach.

"Hey," she said back weakly, trying her best to muster a smile. It was more difficult than she had thought it would've been after giggling the way she did.

"Director Reeve told me you go by Bee now?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yes. I... after mom died, there was no one around who knew my real name anyway. I wanted to leave it all behind," Bee explained, "Start a new life..."

"I looked for you!" he surprised her by announcing loudly, his voice full of pain, "I came rushing back looking for you, I went to the house and the bakery. I recovered mom's body. I buried her just outside the slums, I can take you to see her. But I never found you. I looked for months! Where were you?"

"Healing people," she answered dumbly, feeling bashful that she had been moving around, unwittingly thwarting his efforts to find her. "There were so many people injured after Meteorfall... I had to help them."

"Of course you did," he admonished with a sigh. He leant his lean frame over to cover hers in a bear-like hug that crushed her lungs and stole her breath. "You always were such a do-gooder. I was always so proud of you."

"You were?" Bee never knew that he had regarded her so highly. She hugged him back, trying to match how tight he was hugging her, but her little arms couldn't muster up the strength.

"Of course! Your potions and antidotes were even known in SOLDIER!" he exclaimed after letting her go. He lead her to the table and gestured for her to sit in the chair that wasn't occupied by his helmet while he took the one that he had previously been sitting in. "We had a guy who was in the slums on a mission, got poisoned by some rat-like creature. Said you fixed him up like new."

Bee remembered that man. He was a SOLDIER 3rd-class, and she had found him on her way home. Aerith had just left and Toby had just visited, she was only seventeen. She had hated the fact that a Shinra worker was in the slums, so she had given him an antidote and told him to leave as her payment. He thanked her, not even realizing that she hated him.

"I didn't know my alchemy had spread all the way to Shinra... Reeve didn't seem to know about me when he asked for my help."

"It didn't get very far," Toby told her seriously, "I told the guy not to spread it further or else Shinra may have come looking for you earlier. At least now it's Reeve that got you. He's a good man."

"You did that?" Bee had never known any of this. Toby had never once told her that he knew about the SOLDIER she had helped, never contacted her to tell her she was safe from Shinra.

"Of course I did!" he said, looking at her as though it should have been obvious, "You didn't want to be part of Shinra, and you probably would've worked with Hojo, and he was a snake of a man. There was no way I was letting him get his hands on you."

"Oh. Thank you, Toby." Bee was at loss of what else to say to her brother, her silent shield that she hadn't even known about. He smiled at her, and she found it easier to smile back now.

"Reeve said you have your own shop now, that you're working to help the armies. That you healed Rufus Shinra! Tell me about it all," Toby pried, moving a hand to cover Bee's. She stared at it, noticing how it basically engulfed her own.

"Yeah, my shop is pretty successful. I make more money than I did in the slums," Bee started, earning a proud grin from her brother, "I'm really good at it. And I have really great friends. One of them brought Mr. Shinra to my shop and that's how I was commissioned to help with the armies. Apparently I'm one of the only people that can counteract the poison that the Wutain rebels are using."

"You're just like mom," Toby praised, clamping a hand on Bee's shoulder, "Always so hard working. You ever take a vacation?"

"I can't right now," Bee told him, "My friends are depending on me."

"I'm glad you found such great people to take care of you. Reeve said you brought one of them, I'll have to thank her." He looked down at her with such a proud smile that Bee felt suddenly very ashamed and didn't know how to respond. Where had this been when he visited before? Where was his family pride back then?

"Reeve said you were in Kalm..." Bee told him, "But he said you are in the WRO now."

"That's right," Toby confirmed with a nod. He took his hand off of Bee's shoulder and placed it on the table. "I left Kalm to come look for you and when I never found you, I left Midgar. Shinra was gone, SOLDIER was already in shambles even before Meteorfall. I had nothing left. So I went back to Kalm until I heard about the WRO. I knew I had to join, do some good in the world. And I had met Reeve before at Shinra. I knew how he worked. His vision would propel us forward, I really believe that."

"Why did you go back to Kalm?" Bee asked curiously, "Why didn't you go somewhere else, like Junon? Shinra still had armies there."

"I... well..." For the first time in her life, Bee was witnessing Toby blushing. He scratched at his face for a second before answering, "I met a girl in Kalm. So when I had nothing left in Midgar, I went back to her. We got married, sis. Look."

Bee watched as Toby shuffled around in the pockets of his protective vest and pulled out two pictures. He handed them to Bee and she took them slowly, holding them delicately in her small hands. The first was of Toby in a suit, a woman in a wedding dress standing next to him. They were holding hands, and not even looking at the camera they were so absorbed in each other. The second picture was of the two of them again and Bee got a better look at her face. She was very pretty, Bee expected nothing less from her brother, he had always been the ladies man. But she was softer looking than she expected. The woman wasn't much taller than herself, and she had pin straight blonde hair and pale skin that shone in the flash of the picture. But what shocked her most of all was the third individual in the picture.

"We have a son," Toby told her, stating what Bee had already figured out from looking at the picture. "His name is Aiden, after Mel's dad. Melinda, my wife, I told her I was coming to meet you and she was so excited. She wants to have you for dinner in Kalm. Meet Aiden. He will be one soon, and he looks a lot like you. You should be there for his birthday, I mean, you are his aunt."

Bee's hands were shaking, she knew because the pictures were shaking. He had a family? _She_ had a family. A sister and a nephew. She looked up at Toby and tried to say something, anything, but found that her throat wouldn't work. Her tongue felt like it was swelling.

"Sis, it's okay," Toby said in concern. He moved forward and took the pictures back from her, put them away, and slid his chair as close to hers as it would go. He placed both of his giant hands over hers, trying to steady them. "I know it's a lot to take in. I know. But you're not alone anymore. If you didn't have the shop, I would've asked you to come live with us. We would take care of you. We still can, we can send money if you ever need it. I make enough here at the WRO to support you too, and I know you probably don't need it because you probably make enough at your shop but..."

"I do," Bee cut in, suddenly feeling anger well up inside her. Her hands continued to shake, but it was in disbelief and total rage at her brother. _Now_ he was willing to help her out, now when she didn't need it. Where was this support when she was still in the slums, when she and her mother slaved away every single day to support themselves. Where was he then? "I don't need your Shinra money."

"Sis?" Toby pulled away from his sister as if her hands had burnt him.

"I can support myself," she spat at him, "Or do you forget how I supported myself for _years_ in the slums while you went and played hero for Shinra? That me and mom worked harder than you ever have in your life? And now, when I finally don't need you, you come back into my life and offer me money, thinking that it's perfectly fine? Toby, you left us when we needed you most! Where were you _then?!"_

Her anger was sudden, and fierce, and blinded her. She stood quickly, finally able to be the one to look down on her brother, and she found it fitting. He looked up at her in utter shock, and she hated it. Hated that he could still play innocent when he had wronged her and their mother so badly.

"Why didn't you ever offer to help us?" she cried down at him, hating even more that she was crying now, "You left without even saying good-bye to mom! And then when you came to visit, you didn't even go see her! Why is it that she had to die for you to finally go see her! She missed you everyday! She always asked me if I thought you were coming back! She waited! And then you run off to Kalm with this girl like we were _nothing_!"

"I came back!" he protested, still sitting in the chair, but leaning back so that Bee no longer towered over him, "I came back and searched for weeks for you!"

"When you knew you _had_ to!" she argued back. Her face was flushed red from her anger and her hands just would not stop shaking, not matter how much she tried. She never remembered being so angry in her life, and she felt dizzy, like she couldn't breath. "When Midgar was in flames! So mom and I had to be in danger for you to finally come help us?"

Toby stood now, forcing Bee to take a step back, and she hated him even more for it. The room was a blur now, she saw nothing but Toby, and she wanted to hit him. Hit him so hard, make him feel the pain that she felt while she struggled alone. He tried to calm Bee down, but she kept going.

"And I was never alone! My friends have taken better care of me than you ever have!" She wiped at her face, trying to stop her tears, make the room more visible. She should at least be able to see Toby clearly if she was going to yell at him, she determined. "They have always made sure that I was safe, that I had money, and food, and clothes! What have you done for me? You left when I needed you most! When _Aerith_ needed you most! She's dead, did you know that? Shinra killed her! Just like they killed Zack! And yet you ran off to work for them, spouting off nonsense about becoming a hero! Well who did you save, Toby? Because you certainly didn't save _me_."

She whipped around after her rant, running for the door to the conference room. Toby shouted at her, shouting her real name, and that was the last straw. When he grabbed her wrist, she flung around and slapped him hard across the cheek, and was satisfied at the red mark that she left.

"Go back to your perfect life without me and mom!" she screamed now, and she heard the door open behind her and Tifa yell at her, but she ignored her friend, "Go back to your wife and your son and forget all about me! I know how easy it is." Her voice cracked on her last word, and she took her wrist back from Toby, not even noticing how easily he let go of it. He stood in silent shock, not knowing what to do. Bee ran out of the room, bypassing Tifa and Reeve, both of whom were shouting at her to come back. She ignored them, and with her vision marred by tears, she ran outside of the headquarters as fast as she possibly could, hating herself and her brother more and more with every step she took.

She imagined that Toby ran after her, but she wasn't sure. She never turned back, and she couldn't hear anything over the sound of her heart beating loudly in her ears. The adrenaline rush was too much, she couldn't even see where she was running, she had no sense of time or distance, and she finally stumbled down a sloping hill, rolling to a stop at the bottom. When she stood up and looked around, her chest heaving and heart burning, she had no idea where she was. The WRO building was in the middle of nowhere, she hadn't seen a town nearby on either of her flights to the building. She turned around, trying to catch her breath and noticed that the building was barely visible over the hill she had fell down. She was in a valley of some kind. How long had she run for? She realized that she didn't know. It had all happened so quickly. Her phone rang, and she remembered that she had never put her backpack down. It was still perched on her back, the straps tight against her shoulders and she silently thanked whatever god it was that watched over Gaia that she hadn't thought to take it off when she met Toby. She pulled it out, letting her backpack fall to the ground with a loud thump, and looked at the front screen. It was Tifa. She ignored it. She then checked the time on her phone. While she didn't know exactly what time she had ran out of head quarters, she guessed that she had ran for at least a good ten minutes, maybe even more. She wasn't very sure, she hadn't even been aware of her surroundings as she had run, let alone aware of the span of time.

Her knees were stained with grass, her chest heaved, trying to regain her lost breath, and her headband had fallen off halfway down the hill. She went to retrieve it and placed it back in her hair, pulling some blades of grass out of her brown locks. Her phone rang again. It was Reeve this time. She ignored him too.

Having nothing else to do, Bee sat down in the grass with her backpack. She was still crying, and she didn't bother to wipe them away this time. Instead, she cried freely, enjoying letting her anger out for once in her life. How had that conversation gone so wrong? How had she let herself become so violent, so angry? Her hands were still shaking, and she was coming down from her adrenaline rush. It was still light out, the talk with her brother had not lasted more than maybe ten minutes. Her phone told her it was two in the afternoon. They would find her soon, she determined, and the last thing she wanted was to be found. So she stood, grabbed her backpack, ignored another phone call from Tifa, and then dialed a different number.

"Usually, I'm the one calling you," the voice answered on the other line, a sense of smugness coming through.

"I need help," she cried into the phone. She was stumbling uselessly through the valley she had fallen into, trying as hard as she could to walk through the tall grass and get even further away from headquarters as fast as she could. She was finding it particularly hard to do considering she couldn't see all that well.

"What's wrong? Where are you?" the voice was urgent, hurried, and Bee heard shuffling in the background, a slam of a door, and she finally started to calm down. He was already on his way.

"I don't know," she admitted, trying to take a deep breath. Her mind wasn't really working which meant that her whole body wasn't working either. Her feet were stomping in an odd pattern and her mouth was having a hard time forming words. She wondered briefly if she was going into shock in the aftermath of her argument. She wouldn't be surprised, she always was a wimp. "Reno, come get me, please."

"I'm coming. I'm going to call Tseng and have him trace our phone call, okay?" he told her, his voice still urgent, and a little bit demanding. He had gone into Turk mode, Bee noticed. And she surprisingly was so very glad he was. "Are you hurt? Were you attacked? You were at headquarters, weren't you? What happened?"

"I can't... I can't tell you. I'm too pathetic," she sobbed to him, "I can't even have a conversation with my own family. Family! Reno, I have family! Isn't that weird?"

"Bee, calm down! You need to breath, you're hyperventilating."

So that was why she didn't seem to be getting enough oxygen. Funny, she thought there was a hole in her lung. She took a deep breath, trying to do as he asked, because if he was really coming to get her then she would honestly do anything he wanted her to right then.

"I am a horrible person, Reno. There's something wrong with me. I'm pathetic." She was still crying, taking long, deep breaths in between each sob. She kept walking, still not sure where she was going.

"I take it your meeting with your brother didn't go so hot, huh?" he questioned her, a tone of kindness in his voice that she had never really heard before.

"No. No it really didn't. Will you still get me even though I'm not hurt? Because I really don't know where I am, and I don't want to go back and see him because I'm a horrible person and my life is pathetic."

"Yeah, little bug, I will. And you are probably the greatest person I've ever known in my life. So you stay where you are okay? Don't go anywhere. I'll be there soon and take you home. Sit your buggy ass down and wait for me," he told her sternly. He listened until he heard a thump, and an "ow."

"I'm sitting," she told him, not caring that she probably had even more grass stains on her shorts now. What did it matter? Nothing really did right now.

"Okay, now stay put. Don't think. Try and sleep if you can." She obeyed, leaning back in the grass and closing her eyes. She placed her backpack behind her head and used it as a pillow.

"Okay. Thanks, Reno. Oh, can you do me one last favor?"

"What?"

"Bring alcohol."

"Sure thing, babe."

Bee smiled, and shut her phone, and waited for Reno to get her, drifting off after a half hour. Her last thoughts were how ironic it was that Reno, a Turk and a man she had just met over a month ago, was willing to drop everything to take care of her, while her brother, her own flesh and blood, had forgotten her for almost eight years.

* * *

A/N: As most of you have probably come to notice, Bee is a very flawed person. I wanted to show this in this chapter, and would love to hear your thoughts on her. If you feel negatively towards her, that's okay! I am expecting you to! I would love to know how you feel about her! Please review and view Heve-chan's video!


	11. We Are Fine

Chapter 11: We Are Fine

Bee's phone rang on and off for the better part of two hours while she waited for Reno to arrive. It woke her whenever she dozed off, but she never answered it. She always checked it to make sure that it was not Reno, or even Tseng who was calling her, as she realized that she had not asked Reno how he was coming to get her. She thought she remembered someone saying that Reno was a very talented helicopter pilot, but she wasn't sure. So she laid in the grass, looking at her phone every other half hour, trying not to cry again, or to even think about her brother. She laid there until she felt numb, and could no longer even move to grab her phone anymore. The only thing she really felt was her heart beating steadily against her chest and she felt like she was dying, and she felt more and more pathetic as the time went by.

Reno really thought she was dead when he finally managed to get to her. Tseng had managed to trace his phone-call with Bee to a small valley just over three miles away from headquarters. Reno then asked Tseng to call Tifa or Reeve and let one of them know that he was coming to get her, but Tseng had called him right back saying that the two were still worried for her, and wanted to find her themselves, which was why they continued to call her. Tseng assured Reno that he had let the other two know that they were not to go after Bee, that Reno would handle it.

"I suppose you're lucky that she is an asset to Rufus," Tseng had said mildly over the phone after giving Reno permission to take one of their fastest choppers, "If she wasn't, I would have had a much harder time convincing him to allow you to go."

Reno had smiled ruefully over the phone at this and answered, "Thanks, Chief. I owe ya big time."

He made a half a day trip to find her in just under five hours, noting to himself that that _had_ to be a record. He had landed about ten feet away from her, and she had not moved from her position, even after he walked over to her and loomed over her. She looked back up, her eyes dull, and tear stains adorning her cheeks. She said nothing, so he sat down pretzel-style next to her and gave an over exaggerated sigh.

"So, you fucked up the meeting with your bro, huh?" he asked her, taking in the grass stains on her shorts and knees. He looked up and saw that she had left tracks in the long grass. She had walked very far. Then he noticed the large imprint of her fall down the hill about a quarter of a mile back and he snorted.

"I did," she told him, looking up at him, catching his eye again, "I have a sister-in-law and a nephew. Did you know that?"

"Well, considering you probably didn't even know that 'til right now, no I didn't."

"Did you bring alcohol?"

"Sure did, babe. But we ain't drinking here in the middle of fucking nowhere. Let's go back to your place, okay?" He stood, and held a hand out to her, which she accepted without any further prompting. He helped her stand, noticing that he had to support her almost completely, and she stumbled forward once she had finally made it to both of her feet. He caught her around her waist and kept it there as they walked back to the helicopter.

"I think... I really think I went into shock," she told him as he buckled her in to the co-pilot seat, her backpack on the ground by her feet. "Can you go into shock over something like that?"

"Well, if people thought you couldn't before, I think you just proved them wrong," Reno told her with a smirk, "Your angelic frame of mind couldn't handle being a bad girl, could it?"

"I yelled and even _slapped_ him! I hit my brother!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air for emphasis. She thanked Reno for buckling her in and he nodded then moved around the helicopter in order to get to his own seat.

"Did he deserve it?" he asked her seriously.

She paused and looked at Reno critically, really thinking his question over. Normally, her answer would have been no. Nobody deserved to be slapped like that. But Toby had really _hurt_ her, left her out to dry. She felt so betrayed by him.

"Yes," she finally answered after much consideration. Her headphones were already on, and Reno had already started the rotors. "He even called me by my real name even though I specifically told him not to!" She crossed her arms and pouted at that, earning a chuckle from Reno.

"Then I hope you hit him hard," he told her, just a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Once he had lifted the chopper into the air, he turned to take a quick glance at her. "You look like shit, by the way."

She ran a hand through her hair quickly, pulling out strands of grass, and then wiped at her face, trying to remove any evidence that there had been tears. She then ran a finger under her eyes, wiping away the smudged eyeliner and mascara. She knew that she had been sweaty from her long run, and it had dried already, crusting into her hair. She finger combed it even more, then pulled it back entirely with her headband so that it no longer stuck to her face.

"Better?" she asked him indignantly, as she hadn't really cared what she had looked like, focusing more on the fact that she had hit her brother.

"Much," he told her after stealing another glance her way. He gave a grin, though did not takes his eyes off of flying the helicopter again. "Go to sleep." No amount of wiping could take away the exhaustion from her face.

"Okay," she agreed. She started to close her eyes but jolted upright when she remembered something. Reno watched out of the corner of his eye as Bee grabbed her phone from her pocket, pressed a bunch of buttons on it, most likely sending a text, and then ripped the battery out of it, flinging the two into her bag again. "Tifa knows I'm safe."

Reno nodded, and she closed her eyes, letting the muffled sound of the propeller through her headphones lull her to sleep.

* * *

In Reno's experience, there are four stages to being very drunk. The first, which Bee was currently at, was giddy, clumsy, and just all round goofy. This stage also had a substage of being horny, which, thankfully, Bee was not yet at. The second stage was the breakdown stage, where the person who was drunk begins by becoming mopey, and then full out drowns themselves in their tears, which Bee would definitely get to considering her day. The third stage was the regurgitation stage where the body does whatever it can to purge itself of the alcohol that got it there in the first place. Reno was not looking forward to this, and knew that it was coming eventually. And finally, the fourth stage was where the body just cannot deal with the alcohol anymore, and passes out. Reno could only hope that Bee got there quickly, and painlessly.

He was kind of regretting bringing her alcohol now that he thought it all through.

By the time they had reached her place, it was dark out. Bee had let them into her shop in silence, she hadn't really talked very much once they had landed. She was coming down from the shock of her argument and feeling extremely embarrassed about the whole ordeal, and Reno knew it. So, once she had put her bag down in her room and came back into the living room, he immediately handed her a shot of amber liquid, and a glass of whatever fruity juice she had in her fridge as a chaser. She took one look at it, didn't even ask what it was, and downed it in one try, sipping frantically from her cup right after.

Five shots afterwards, and Reno was really regretting letting her get drunk on his alcohol.

"Reno! Reno! Renoooo!" Bee was basically draped across his lap on her couch, the bottle of alcohol on the floor just beside it. He had his back against the one arm of the couch, with one leg running the length of the cushions, the other planted firmly on the ground. Bee was half laying, half kneeling over the leg that was on the couch, facing him, her hands supporting her on the couch.

"I'm right here, you insect," he told her, shoving her away gently. She had put her face _very_ close to his, and he was really starting to hope that she hadn't entered the horny stage. Not everyone got there. Hopefully she didn't either. He didn't know if he'd be able to resist her, and that would not be a way to keep a friendship with her.

"Right! But I wanted to hear your voice!" she told him, giggling furiously at her comment. She moved closer to him again, and he didn't even bother to move her away again, instead placing both his hands on her waist to hold her back from getting even closer.

"Hear my voice?" he questioned. Her eyes were wide and excited and she giggled again, and he couldn't deny he liked the sound. Her giggle was rare, and made her seem her actual age. He liked the way her nose scrunched up whenever she did, how her light voice reverberated in her throat, her eyes showed pure happiness. He liked it better then her laugh, because her laughs didn't always reach her eyes. Her giggles always did, making the gray seem lighter, and the black flecks stand out more, dazzling him, entrancing him.

"Yes! Your voice... is like, soooooo sexy, Reno! Has any other girl ever told you that?" She moved her hands so that they were on either side of his head, just above his shoulders, one on the arm of the couch, the other on the back cushion. Reno had to hold her up as she decided that moving both arms at the same time and not leaving any support for the rest of her body was a very good idea.

"Whoa! Come on! Hold yourself up!" he chastised, but couldn't help from laughing at her as she giggled yet again. She found her whole situation very funny, apparently. Which, he admitted to himself, it was. Bee never let herself go like this, and he had been too drunk to notice the first time they drank together if she had been the same way as she was now.

"Sexy voice," she sang out, still trying to get closer to Reno's face. He held her back, and didn't let go even when she continued, "Ya know, you're probably the most beautiful man I have everrrrr seeeen!" She gasped, and placed both of her hands over her mouth, forcing Reno to hold her up again, his grip tightening on her waist. She full out laughed this time, and her face flushed. It was an awkward laugh, one that conveyed that she shouldn't actually be laughing, but was anyway. Even in her drunken state, she knew that what she said was crossing the boundary between them.

Reno laughed too, and finally decided to sit up, situating Bee so that she was sitting on the cushion next to him. He was getting annoyed at holding her up over and over again. She went willingly, smiling up at him the whole time, her hands between her legs on the couch as she leaned over, still trying to be close to him.

"Do you think that I'm beautiful too?" She tried to look up at him, focus on his face, but she was finding it very difficult to even hold her head upright. Everything was blurry, but she desperately wanted to see his face. Gaze into his sea-green eyes, appreciate just how red his hair was again, follow the tattoos on his cheek bones.

Deciding that she wouldn't remember it tomorrow anyway, Reno answered truthfully. "Babe, I think you're the most beautiful thing in Edge."

She stopped, and Reno was surprised to see how much composure she managed to gain when she heard his answer. She looked at him through droopy eyes, and managed to get her head to stay still long enough to look at him quizzically.

"You do not," she told him, pouting enough that her bottom lip literally protruded further than her upper. Reno had the distinct urge to bite it. "I'm short. Well not that short, but I'm shorter than Yuffie, and have shorter legs than her. And I'm not as thin as Tifa, and my hair is too wavy. Too wavy! And my boobs are definitely not as big as hers, buuuut they are bigger than Yuffies! So that's a start! But my forehead is too big, I mean, if I laid down, you could put a cup on it! OhmygoshIshouldshowyou!"

She sprang from the couch then, trying to get to the kitchen, but failed horribly as her foot caught on the couch cushion and she wiped out on the floor, limbs flailing in every direction, before Reno could process what she had said or what she was doing. He rose from the couch, and dropped to her side to see if she was okay.

"Bee! You crazy insect, are you trying to hurt yourself?" He helped her stand as she laughed so hard that her shoulders shook. "It's not funny! You could've really gotten hurt!"

She slowed her laughter long enough to look up at him and ask, "Are youuu worried about me, Reeeeno?"

He suddenly noticed how close they were, and he distanced himself from her, putting her at arms length so that he could hold her upright but so that they were not touching more than that. She frowned, and her head started to bob again and Reno was really worried she would fall over. Hell, she couldn't even get up off of the couch without landing flat on her face.

"You worried about meee when you came to get meee tuday!" she told him, stomping her foot like a small child, trying to get him to admit it. She pushed forward again, and moved a hand to cup his face, hitting his shoulder in the process, and then landing messily on the side of his face. "You worry about meee! Reeeno! I know you doo! Because... Because I worry about youuu! And when Tifa asked mee tuday if I liked you romanti... roman... as more than friends, I didn't know! Isn't that weird? How do I not know? Maybe because Viiincent told me not to! Isn't that funny?"

"Ah..." Reno listened closely to her, absorbing everything she said, but it was very hard to listen when she was so close, and her hand was on his cheek. So hard, because he had to concentrate on making sure that he didn't kiss her, throw her on the couch, and make love to her right then and there. It didn't help that the straps of her tank-top were falling over her shoulders, while the bottom of it was riding up and a strip of creamy skin was poking through. She had changed out of her grass stained shorts in favor of light blue fabric ones, but she still had grass stains left on her knees that she hadn't been able to wash off completely. But he found that to be part of her charm; she had fallen, and gotten hurt, and kept going and wound up in his arms and he still had no idea how.

She stared up at him, expectantly, but when he didn't say anything, she decided to take charge and stand on her tip-toes, kissing his lips firmly and wrapping the hand that was on his cheek to the back of his neck, entwining it into his red hair.

Substage of stage one had officially been reached.

Her kiss was fierce, and needy, but still sloppy. She pulled him down so that she didn't have to struggle to reach him anymore, and he followed her, unable to think of what to do otherwise. He kissed her back just as hungrily, all other thoughts be damned, and he let her lead him to her couch where they both crashed onto the cushions as a heap of tangled limbs and flowing hair, Reno hovering over Bee delicately. She had undone his pony tail, so his hair cascaded freely over his shoulder and tickled her face, and she reveled in the feeling of the silky locks against her skin. Her world had spun out of control, her brain on the fritz, and Reno's lips were the only thing that made sense at that moment, the only thing she felt were steady while the rest wouldn't stop moving.

He bit her bottom lip, as he had wanted to do earlier, sucking it into his mouth and causing her to moan. He let it go reluctantly, but immediately brought his lips back to hers, twisting his tongue with hers in what was probably the messiest, most slobber-filled, yet completely satisfying kiss of his whole life. The hand that wasn't lost in his hair traveled down to his shoulder, pulling at the fabric, clawing desperately as she tried to take the jacket off of him. He obliged, easily removing it without ever taking his lips off of hers. Her hand snuck its way up the front of his shirt and every place her skin came in contact with burned, and he wanted her to touch everywhere, make him burn all over his body. Burn until there was absolutely nothing left but a pile of ash because it didn't matter what the end result was, as long as she kept touching him. He felt more alive in that very moment than he ever had before and he wanted her to feel alive too, to feel just what it was that she was doing to him.

She gasped when she felt his hand lift her shirt, while his other massaged her scalp through her hair. It was all too much and she moaned again, using her legs to bring him closer to her so that their pelvises touched. She continued to feel his chest, memorizing the soft skin marred by a crisscross of scars all over his body. She traced every single one she could find, softly, as if touching them would reopen them, and Reno was moved by how reverently she treated them. He moved his hand further up her shirt, positioning her tank so that her stomach was fully exposed, and then even further up. Her bra was showing now, a white lacy thing that he really hated all of a sudden. He moved a hand over it, and his lips finally left hers, tracing kisses down her jawline, and then down her neck. She moved her head so that he could reach better, and moved to whisper in his ear.

"Reeeno," she breathed out, and Reno could smell the alcohol on her breath, hear the slur in the way she said his name, and he froze. Reality crashed around him, and he hated himself for what he did next. He moved off of her, pulling her shirt down and removing himself from her legs and the couch entirely. She looked up at him with a confused and drunk expression, her eyes glazed over from her lust. "Wha?"

"You're drunk, Bee. We can't do this. _I_ won't do this to you. You'd never forgive me," he told her, hating every word coming from his mouth. He wanted her, wanted her so badly, and of course for the first time in his life, he had to play the good guy. He knew if he slept with her again, that it would mess everything up between them. She would never forgive him for taking advantage of her while she was drunk and he was not, and she would never forgive herself for sleeping with him a second time. She would thank him tomorrow, he knew, but the look on her face now was simply killing him.

"You... you don't want me?" she asked him, her voice squeaky and unstable, and tears sprang to her eyes and Reno almost lost it all over again.

"Bee, come on," he urged, gesturing wildly with his hands, "We can't do this! We're friends! Friends don't have sex like this."

"But we already did," she argued back in a whiney voice, sitting up on the couch, her lips pouting again as they had been earlier. Her tears were slowly threatening to over flow and Reno seriously wanted to bang his head against a wall, the whole situation was so out of hand. He really just wanted to yell at her, _I know! And I want to do it again, so badly! I want to fuck you senseless, I want to hear you scream my name again, just like last time! I want you more and more every day! Don't you see it?!_

He took a deep breath, rubbing at his eyes. Shiva, this girl was tiring him out, testing his patience and his self-control like no other girl had ever done to him before. He supposed that was what he got for forming his first friendship with someone outside the Turks. He wouldn't know honestly. Even as a kid, he had never really had friends.

"We are not having sex, do you understand?" he asked her firmly, giving a silent chuckle at his own tone, which sounded so much like the tone Tseng had used with him so many times before. Now he knew what it was like to be on the other end. He would have to apologize to the boss later on.

She burst out into tears then, sinking back into the couch in a snotty mess, her body shaking with every sob that burst from her mouth. She wailed about how Reno didn't want her, how nobody wanted her, not even her own brother, how much of a horrible person she was. Reno sighed, and mentally checked off Stage Two in his head, then stooped down to the couch next to her.

"How many times do I have to tell ya, you couldn't get more perfect if you tried?" he told her, trying to get through to her in between sobs, but she continued to cry. She had pulled her knees up to her chest and was leaning her head on them, her tears running down the length of her legs and being soaked up into her shorts.

"No! No! T-toby! He l-left me and m-mom! Left us! A-and I couldn't h-help my mom the way h-he did! He was s-supposed to protect us! Why did he l-leave? Z-zack was d-dead! Didn't h-he understand that? H-he would never f-find him! Never!" Her words fell from her mouth in a gurgled mess of tangles, landing on her stomach before ever getting to Reno's ears. He was forced to lean closer to her, and listen as she sniffed and hiccuped and cried even harder. "And n-now you will leave m-me too! Because you don't w-want me anymore! I will n-never be good enough! N-never! I try so h-hard! I work all the t-time but it's n-never enough! My s-stupid boyfriends w-weren't impressed, and y-you're not impressed, and T-tifa and C-cloud don't have the time! B-but you c-cared and now I've m-messed it all up! And why c-can't I just forgive T-toby? Why? I'm so h-horrible, I can't even f-forgive my own b-brother! Why? I j-just want him to l-love me! I just want a person who l-loves me again. T-that's all! E-everyone says that A-aerith would be proud, b-but nobody e-ever says that _they're_ p-proud of m-me except for T-toby! And t-then I slapped him! W-why?"

"Insect! Breath! C'mon, you're being ridiculous!" he yelled, shaking her shoulder. This only seemed to upset her more, and she wailed uncontrollably, pulling away from him and falling to land on the couch with a loud thump. He stared at her, having never seen someone breakdown so completely at Stage Two. Apparently, she had been holding a lot in, probably more than she even thought she was, and so he sat and let her cry, knowing it was the only thing that would bring her peace. He knelt beside the couch where she was laying, placing an arm on her side in what he hoped was a gesture of comfort, and listened as she sobbed on and on about her brother and about him and about Aerith and Zack and her mother. He let her cry because nobody so small, so innocent, so good, should ever hold all of that in. He let her cry because he could never address all her fears at once, could never make her feel better in the state that she was in. He let her cry because it caused him pain, and he felt he deserved that pain, as he had given her enough pain already, and she had taken it and dealt with it long enough.

He sat there on the ground beside her, not able to look at her, until she reached up and grabbed the hand that was on her waist. He looked up in surprise and noticed that she had stopped sobbing, though tears still leaked from her eyes. Her eyes were still unfocused, and her grasp on his hand was weak at best, but he still understood that she was glad he was there. Her face was a bright red mess, her nose was drippy, and her smile watery, but he still found her to be so beautiful in that moment. Maybe it was because of how sincere she managed to appear in her gesture, how she managed to convey how much she needed him, even through her drunken haze.

"I'm sorry," she said, her voice deeper than usual and groggy sounding. She cleared her throat and frowned and he knew Stage Three was coming soon.

"It's okay, little bug," he told her, making his voice gentle, "You got nothing to be sorry for, yo."

"I feel sick," she told him simply, and so he stood swiftly, picked her up into his arms, and carried her all the way to the bathroom as fast as his feet would take him.

He sat her in front of her toilet and she vomited violently into the basin, making small pathetic choking noises and crying some more. He held her hair back, and kept his chest firmly against her back so that she wouldn't fall over, his one arm across her stomach holding her steady. She finished quickly, and he remembered that she hadn't eaten much that day, she was throwing up purely alcohol and bile. She had forgone dinner in favor of drinking way past her limit. She vomited again, and then one more time before it finally seemed like she was finished. He helped her stand and she moved to brush her teeth, responsible even while drunk. He made sure that she wasn't going to fall over, and then escorted her to her kitchen where he got her a glass of water and a left over bag of fries from her dinner the other night. He heated the fries up and turned to find that she was drinking the water, stray drops falling over her chin and down her neck. He brought the fries to her, squeezed ketchup on them, and let her at them. He declined when she offered him some, which she did several times, and then watched as she scarfed down the whole bag.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked him once she had finished. She licked her hands of salt and then drank the third cup of water that he had brought her.

"Isn't this what friends do for each other?" he asked her. His head was resting on his arms on top of the table, and she was looking down at him through red-rimmed eyes and messy strands of hair, her chin shiny with water, and he couldn't help but grin at her.

"I don't know," she said, still drunk but more focused with food and water in her stomach, and a majority of the alcohol in the toilet and not in her body anymore. She absent-mindedly moved a strand of his hair out of his face, tucking it behind his goggles, almost poking him in the eye.

"Well, I don't know either. Some friendship we have, huh?" He chuckled at this. They really were hopeless.

She moved to mirror his position, crossing her arms on the table and placing her head on top of them. Their eyes were level now, their heads inches away from each other.

"_I_ think... that we are _fine_," she told him with a confident nod. She smiled when he chuckled again, this time at her. "Wanna know why?"

"Why, bug?" he asked, curiously and amused at the same time.

"Because you actually take notice of my boring life, and I ignore your dark past," she stated, smiling proudly at her revelation.

"Well ain't that the truth?" he agreed, reaching a hand out to ruffle her hair, "But you forgot one thing."

"Hmm?" She frowned again, upset that she had forgotten something.

"We are both fucking crazy," he reminded her, causing her to giggle, and nod sleepily.

Stage Four commencing now, he thought as he watched her close her eyes, and lean her head sideways. She was breathing deeply, a sign that she was asleep, within just a few minutes. Reno sighed, shook his head at her, and stood, scraping his chair across the wood of her floor. He went and lifted her again, carrying her to her bedroom this time, and placing her gently under her blanket. He closed her curtains and then went back to her, making sure that she was on her side with a trashcan nearby, just in case. He smoothed her hair out over the side of her head and then stood, turning out her lamp before he left the room, closing the door with a small click. It took every ounce of strength he had to walk out of her house and not run back into her room and lay beside her, but he knew it would be wrong to stay with her, even in that way. She had already shown that she trusted him completely, and he could never bring himself to betray that trust. So instead, he turned out all the lights in her flat, and then down in her shop, and then locked her shop door behind her, using the key that he kept forgetting to give back to her. He probably would never give it to her, as he kept finding uses for it, and secretly, he hoped that he always would. So he placed the key back into his pocket, keeping a hand on it and enjoying the warmth it provided, thinking that he would need to add it to his keyring, with the rest of his keys.

The next morning, he received a text from Bee. He smiled as he walked out of his apartment, reading the text message and spinning his keyring on a finger.

**_[I am so sorry about last night. Thank you so much for helping me. I don't remember a lot (what a surprise) but I do remember that you were there the whole time, and that you took care of me. I owe a whole weeks worth of dinner. Are you up for it?]_**

He attached his keys to his belt-loop, then texted back.

**_[Damn right, I am. You let me know where and when.]_**

He hurried down the staircase, his keys jangling for once. Guess that was what happened when you added another key onto the ring.

* * *

A/N: If you don't live on the east coast, you may not be aware that there is a nasty hurricane on the way here. If you read my other stories, you know that I live in Pennsylvania, relatively close to Philadelphia. I will not say exactly where, but if you aren't on the east coast, please keep me and everyone here in your thoughts and, if you're religious, your prayers. We are going to be hit hard, and the storm is said to be life threatening and can cause power outages for over a week or so. I posted this before it gets worse, so that I still have power. Please keep people from New Jersey in your thoughts even more so, the news has said that the shore is basically gone, and those that did not evacuate are having it rough. If you are a reader from the area of the hurricane, be safe! I hope you are okay, and that you and your families remain safe throughout the next week.


	12. Don't Go Away

A/N: I hope that every is safe after the hurricane. If you haven't seen pictures of New Jersey, I suggest you look at some. Considering donating to the red cross fund, or at least please be thankful for everything that you have. I was lucky enough to not even lose power, and my roommates and I are going to donate clothes and shoes to the refugees being housed at our university. If you can do anything for these people, I beg that you do.

* * *

Chapter 12: Don't Go Away

"How old are you?"

Reno looked up from his pile of fries at Bee in a daze. "What?"

"I asked how old you are," Bee repeated, a bit more forcefully this time. She picked at her salad in front of her with her fork, spearing a lettuce leaf. She and Reno were sitting in a small restaurant on the far side of town that had been next on Bee's list of places she needed to eat at.

She had kept her promise of owing him a weeks worth of dinner, paying for the three dinners they had had together over the past week, and were currently on their fourth together. He had been only a bit nervous at first, wondering if she remembered that she had tried to have sex with him again, and if their dinner would be awkward. But she had smiled at him when she found him already sitting at an outside table on their first dinner after that night. He had been relieved at this, and he stood to greet her with a wave, his lop-sided grin, and a crude comment about how good her legs looked in the shorts she was wearing. She blushed and shrugged him off as she usually did, and the two stood in line together to order food like it was the most normal thing for an alchemist and a Turk to do on an evening.

They didn't really talk about that night, Reno was relieved to note. She had simply thanked him again, this time in person, and he had asked if she had spoken to her brother. She told him that she had talked to Tifa, who had talked to Toby for her, saying that she wasn't ready to face him again just yet, and she didn't know when she would be. He dropped the subject afterwards, and did not bring it up again. He had already witnessed her breakdown over Toby. He didn't want to see it again.

Instead, they would ask each other questions, as she was doing now. Sometimes she asked about being a Turk, other times asked about the SOLDIER program and Reno knew she was trying to find out about Zack and her brother. He answered as best as he could, without giving her too much information (he did still value his job as Turk and did not want to be killed because he gave away a secret of Shinra). He would counter by asking about her apprenticeship and her life in the slums, and then she would ask about his partners.

By the end of the second night of eating together, Reno knew that not only was blue her favorite color and that she liked climbing things, but that she wore the bracelet that Zack had given her to this very day, she didn't like chocolate by itself, she loved anything caramel, she was afraid of loud noises such as thunder (but she loved watching lightening so it was a bitter sweet fear) and big trucks that rumbled by her house at night, and that she didn't keep in contact with her ex-boyfriends because both relationships had ended badly, to her dismay. She liked wearing her hair down, but held back with a headband because it bothered her when it was in her face, and wore it in a braid on days she really missed Aerith. She couldn't lie to save her life, she had tried it on him when he asked her if she liked the fourth movie he had brought over (it was terrible, full of death and pretty girls that weren't realistic at all). She missed Nanaki the most out of her friends, but valued all their friendships equally. She chewed the tips of her straws, claiming that she didn't like how much liquid came through them when they weren't chewed smaller. When they sat down for dinner, she always sat at the edge of her seat, as if she was ready to spring up at any notice, and when Reno pointed it out to her, she admitted sheepishly that it was a habit from hanging around Aerith when the Turks were after her. He had apologized gruffly, but she only smiled and said that Aerith would have forgiven him a long time ago.

Bee knew that Reno's hair was naturally that red, he hated formalities (though she honestly could've guessed that one), he had never had a serious girlfriend even before joining the Turks, his parents had both died at a young age, Rude was his best friend, he really loved burgers, he didn't like iced tea, and he wasn't really afraid of anything. He refused to tell her about his tattoos, but did tell her that he grew his hair out because when Tseng had stopped wearing his hair back, he felt there was something missing and needed to have his own. He regretted not being able to save Zack, more so than he regretted anything in his life, and he had a lot of regrets, he told her. All the Turks felt that that mission was the biggest failure of them all. He revealed that there had been more Turks, but didn't give her specifics, and was pleased when she didn't bug him for more. He liked walking with his hands in his pockets because it made him seem less threatening, he thought, and she agreed with him. He had picked up the EMR because he thought that it was different than most weapons, and suited his lifestyle. He felt that if he was going to be a killer, he would at least be man enough to watch his victims die in front of him, watch the life leave their eyes, instead of shooting them from far away and not taking in the full consequences of taking another's life. Bee had listened to this carefully, and gave no comment to it, but Reno was happy when she continued with the conversation in an even tone.

They never talked throughout the movies they watched, and Reno was happy when she immediately sat next to him again and again, easily placing her head on his chest again as if they had been doing this every night of their lives. He would always rub her arm because the contact of his skin on hers made him remember that she was real, and she always listened to the sound of his heart beat because the steady thump-thump made her remember that this wasn't a dream.

And every night, she went to bed just after the movie ended, not really caring that she hadn't made it to 7th Heaven like Reno promised she would, and she would watch through her bedroom window as he left out the front of her shop, locking it behind him with her key, still on his key ring. He looked up every night to see her there, and he grinned at her, making her heart beat faster and her mind buzz to the point where she couldn't hear the wind blowing right past her ears. He waved at her, then turned and left for wherever it was that he lived, not looking back to see that she watched him until he slipped around the corner at the end of the street. She then got dressed for bed, pulling a tank top over her head, and sunk into her bed, lazily dragging her covers over her, turned off her lamp, and placed a hand on the arm that he had been rubbing just minutes before. She slept with her hand there, trying to capture the left-over warmth and bring it with her, into her dreams.

Now, on their fourth dinner night, Bee watched at Reno eyed her in suspicion, taking a bite of his burger and chewing slowly, stalling time before he had to answer.

"Why?" he asked her cautiously. He picked up a fry and poked into his pile of ketchup then stuck it in his mouth, savoring the salty taste.

"Because Vincent said I was a little young for you," she said noncommittally, trying her hardest to pretend like the answer didn't matter to her. She speared another piece of lettuce again, smiling in triumph when she managed to get a crouton at the same time.

Reno watched her and chuckled at her childish actions, causing her to grin at him before plopping the lettuce and crouton in her mouth. "He did, did he? I didn't realize we were dating." He had forgotten that she mentioned Vincent spoke to her about their friendship, but said nothing to her as she probably didn't even remember mentioning it to him.

"He didn't mean it that way," Bee corrected, not mentioning that it looked a lot like they were on a date that very minute. "He meant because we slept together." She was proud of herself for how easily it was to speak of that night now. While she still regretted it, wished it had never happened, she could not deny that she was grateful for the friendship that she had with Reno. She enjoyed his company and was slowly discovering that he was right; her life had been very boring. Reno brought her a sense of happiness and excitement that she had never had before.

"Oh, right," he acknowledged. He looked at Bee, remembering that her twenty-second birthday was coming up soon and suddenly felt very old. He tried to ignore that thought by taking a sip of his soda and then scratching his face, stretching out the red tattoo on one side. "I'm gonna be thirty soon."

"Thirty?"

Reno turned back to look at Bee when he heard her voice crack on the word. She quickly tried to cover up her stunned reaction by picking at her food again, mixing it around in her bowl with a bashful expression. She cleared her throat and said, much more calmly, "I didn't know there was such a distance between our ages."

"Eight years," Reno supplied with a shrug, "I'm not concerned about it. You're really mature for your age anyway. If you hadn't told me your age that night, I woulda thought you were older, yo."

"And you are _not_ really mature for your age," Bee teased, earning a french fry thrown at her head. It fell into her shirt, and she tucked a hand down to grab it. As she placed it in her mouth she noticed Reno watching her intently, his eyes following every movement. "What?"

"That... Was sexy," he purred at her, leaning forward and grinning at her.

"I grabbed a fry out of my shirt and ate it," she stated, looking at Reno with an eyebrow raised.

"You grabbed a fry out of your _boobs_," Reno corrected her, flicking the flimsy fabric of her blouse with a finger.

"Shut up," she said sternly, though her eyes held amusement, and when Reno pouted at her, she finally laughed at him. She examined his face for a moment then asked, "You're really turning thirty?"

"Yup," he answered, still not concerned.

"You don't look anywhere close to thirty."

"I know."

Bee continued to examine him as he chomped down his burger and watched as he looked around at the people that were sitting around them, most of which had stared at him, recognizing the Turk uniform. He was so carefree, she had come to notice, taking pleasures from life where he could get it, holding on tight to the things that he liked. Bee surmised that it came with the Turk territory. He kept his EMR on him at all times, tucked into his pants pocket and hidden beneath his white button up shirt. On the other side, he had a gun holstered, hidden under his suit blazer. He was ready for a fight wherever he went, and Bee had noticed that he often checked the people around them at extensive lengths, as he had at the diner the first time they had eaten dinner together. Yet, he was always in a good mood, grinning at her, making jokes. Bee loved that about him because she found his emotions to be infectious. If he was in a particularly good mood, she was too. She admired the way he always looked for fun things in life, trying to live it to the fullest.

"I was thinking I could take you on that trip to the mountains next weekend," he said, knocking Bee from her thoughts. She looked at Reno as he finished off his burger. She had honestly thought that he had forgotten about his offer.

"Okay," she consented easily, causing Reno to look at her closely. "What?"

"It's your birthday that weekend, isn't it?" he asked her. A couple walked by their table and he watched them until they had left the dining area.

"Yes. Why? Is that a problem? You just asked if I wanted to go climb that mountain. I wasn't going to have the shop open that weekend anyway. It's the only weekend I really close the shop down. And yes, I actually sleep in that day." Her voice was playful at the end and she smiled at Reno before taking a sip of her water and then munching on another bite of her salad.

"I was just afraid that you already had plans," he told her honestly. He really wanted to take her to the mountain for her birthday, not that he would tell her that, but he had thought that she had probably already planned on hanging out at the 7th Heaven, or maybe doubling her angel visits, he wouldn't put that past her. And the weekend after her birthday was the weekend they were heading to Wutai. No doubt she would be cramming in antidote making for the next week so that they were ready.

"Tifa asked for me to eat dinner at the bar one night. Everyone is supposed to come. I can go that Friday and we can go climbing on Saturday into Sunday. Is that okay?" she asked, unable to keep a tone of hopefulness out of her voice.

Reno noticed, however, and gave her a playful smirk and a wink. "Can't wait to get me all alone on a mountain, huh? Ya know, that doesn't have to be the only thing you mount this weekend."

"Reno!"

He knew he deserved the slap to the shoulder that came right after.

They packed up their trash, throwing it out as they left the eating area outside the food stand they had stopped at, and settled into a comfortable pace towards the heart of Edge. Bee looked around at all the buildings, still in awe two years after leaving Midgar. The buildings were just so tall to her, and she could see the sky above them, which was probably why she liked climbing so much. She had never been able to see the sky when she was living in the slums, and the first time she saw it, she was terrified that she would fall into it.

Reno walked beside her, his hands in his pockets as usual, watching the people that shifted around them, giving them both a wide berth. He remembered that it had bothered Bee the first time they walked together, to the point where she had glanced around nervously the whole walk home, her hands fidgeting on her backpack straps uncontrollably for the better part of twenty minutes. Now, she ignored the people around her, he noticed, relieved that she was no longer discomforted while being with him.

"You should come," Bee said suddenly, catching Reno's eye, "On Friday to my birthday dinner, I mean."

"I don't know, little bug," Reno drawled, "I don't fit in to dinners like that."

"What do you mean?" Bee looked up at him with sad eyes, and Reno mentally cursed himself as he felt himself caving.

"Turks don't usually do dinner and that sort of stuff," he explained, "We have business meetings where we talk about who our next target is or where out next mission will take place."

"Oh." Even to Bee's ears, her voice sounded small. She knew her face was crestfallen, and she turned her head so that he couldn't see it. She had wanted him to be there, more than anyone else. She had thought that because he had been willing to hang out with her the past week, and how he gave her the TV before that, that he would want to go to her birthday dinner. He was willing to take her climbing a mountain, which she was ecstatic about, and he was willing to tell her bits and pieces about his life, but it would have meant more to her for him to be at dinner, with the rest of her friends.

She looked up when she heard Reno grumble under his breath. He was dragging a hand over his eyes, his tattoos stretching again as they had earlier. He looked down at her in frustration, and sighed out, "Okay, I'll be there. If that's what you want."

"Reno, you don't have to go if you don't want," she told him, hating herself for saying it, but feeling it was the right thing.

"Listen, I just said I'd go, didn't I?" he asked in frustration, "If it will make you happy, I will go to this dinner. There will be alcohol right?"

"I want it to make _you_ happy," she argued back, touched by his confession, but perturbed that he was only going because of that.

"Bug, when you're happy, I'm happy too," he said without thinking. She looked up at him with wide eyes before looking away, her face flushed. Reno was taken aback by his own words as well and so said nothing else, as he realized that he had meant them. When she had been crying the night she was drunk, he had felt her pain, he felt unbelievable sadness too. He liked when she was happy, but wasn't that what friends normally liked?

The rest of the walk was a daze for Bee. Reno's words had startled her, and she couldn't seem to stop her heart from beating faster and faster. She had the sudden urge to hug Reno, pull him close and thank him a thousand times over, run her hand through his too-red hair, and kiss his too-perfect face. She remembered passing by the monument in the center of Edge, newly rebuilt after it had been destroyed just before Bee had come to Edge. It was here that Bee plucked up the courage to grab Reno's hand and squeeze it. When he looked down at her in bewilderment, she smiled shyly up at him and they stopped their walk. Her face was beat red as she tried to keep the courage to continue holding his hand.

"Thank you," she told him, her voice just above a whisper and Reno had to strain to hear it.

He tried to shrug it off, and answered back cooly, "It's not a big deal."

"No, you don't understand," she said, trying to explain. She squeezed his hand again and brought it up to memorize the way her fingers laced with his. "I've... never had someone like you in my life before. Tifa and Cloud, they saved me from Midgar and brought me here, gave me a means to a new life. But they're so busy all the time, I don't really get to talk to them as much as I want. And Yuffie is oblivious to everything but materia. You already know about Toby. You... were the first person to point out how boring my life is, my place is, my _personality_ is. And I feel that even though I haven't known you very long..." She felt her voice give out, and she cleared her throat again and continued, "I've felt more alive in these past few weeks than I ever have in my life. You've made me... really happy."

"We haven't really done much," Reno joked, uncomfortable with Bee's confession, "I just tease you a lot, and make you watch movies with me, and meet you for dinner. Take care of you when you decide to get drunk."

"I know. That's what I mean. Just those few small things have shown me how boring my life was before, how unhappy I was," she said with a nod. She continued to look at their hands, too embarrassed to look up at his face. "And you coming to my birthday dinner means a lot to me. I want all of my friends there, and you're the friend that means the most to me."

"Next thing you know, you'll be asking me to marry you," he teased, looking away from her. He didn't know how else to react to her except with jokes, and he hated that he couldn't tell her how much she meant to him too.

Bee looked up at him finally and noticed that he had looked away from her, clearly uncomfortable. She dropped his hand then in shame, thinking that she had really upset him, and starting walking away from the monument and Reno. "No, of course not. I'm sorry." Her words were hurried, choked, and Reno realized with dismay that she was crying. He rushed forward to catch her arm, swinging her around to face him.

She crashed into him, her chest bumping into his, and his mouth found hers in a hungry kiss as he tried to convey everything he wanted to say to her through just his lips.

_I'm sorry. I'm an idiot. Don't leave me. Don't cry. Don't ever cry because of me. Don't ever go away. I need you. I want you. You're the best thing in my life. I'd do anything to make you happy. Just don't go away._

He held her tightly against himself, feeling the fabric of her blouse in his hands has he held them on her waist, making sure that she couldn't leave him again, because as he watched her walk away, he saw his ray of sunshine go with her, and he just couldn't let the only good thing in his life walk away like that, not when he could stop it. And _Shiva,_ her lips felt good against hers as she kissed him back with just as much hunger and it was so much better than her drunken kisses had been. Watermelon on a fall afternoon all over again, and he never wanted it to stop. And he realized he would go to as many dinners, climb as many mountains, watch as many movies as she wanted him to, as long as she would just _stay with him_.

He felt her gasp into his mouth, and for a second he felt pure satisfaction run through him, thinking that he had caused her to gasp, but then she went limp. So limp that she fell from his grasp, and he staggered to catch her, opening his eyes finally to see a look of horror on her face as they slid to the ground. He heard people scream around him and he looked up to see two men approaching him and he felt his blood run cold. He recognized the uniform the men were wearing as the ones that the rebel group in Wutai wore. They were walking slowly to him, and he saw with dread that one held shuriken in his right hand.

"Bee!"

He lifted her so that her head rested on his shoulder, and he noticed that it simply lulled to the side, hitting his shoulder like dead weight. He peered over to her back and his heart stopped in his chest as his worst fears were confirmed; four shuriken were sticking out of Bee's back, blood seeping through her blouse and Reno thought for a second how mad she would be because that was her favorite shirt. She was still breathing, which was a good sign. Shurikens were small weapons, meant to kill slowly or to incapacitate before executing a victim. She would survive, with only four small scars on her back, but only if she wasn't hit again.

"Re... Reno.."

Her voice was weak, and he knew that she was more going in to shock than she was injured. She tried to move her head, but he held it in place with his right hand, reaching into his pocket with his left and pulling out his PHS. He flipped it open, never taking his eyes off of the approaching men. They stopped, intrigued by Reno's actions.

"What? Never seen a phone before?" He couldn't help himself. He hit two buttons and his speed-dial kicked in, dialing the number of his boss quickly. Tseng answered on the first ring, prompt, as usual.

"Tseng."

"I need back-up!" Reno yelled into the phone, hoping that the desperation in his voice was as obvious as he was trying to make it sound.

"Where?" Tseng asked, not bothering to ask what had happened to Reno, as he was off-duty at the time.

"The monument in the center of Edge," Reno spat quickly. He stood, watching at the men began walking towards him again, and he cradled Bee gently in his free arm, trying not to disturb the shuriken in her back. He winced when she moaned a bit and then swore loudly when more blood poured out of her back, coating her blouse in the shiny red liquid. "Send Cloud too. He knows how to better handle a Restore Materia than I do." He flipped his phone shut, not bothering to hear Tseng's answer as he knew his boss would be sending help right away.

With not much time before the men reached him, Reno backed up, shoving his phone back in his pocket and removing his EMR, slipping the end loop over his left wrist. He moved slowly backwards until the shadow of the Meteor monument fell over him and he turned, placing Bee gently on the ground behind him. The monument would shield her back, leaving less area for Reno to worry about while protecting the girl from her two attackers. She shifted against the cool metal behind her, finding it soothing on her aching back and managed to look up at Reno through hazy eyes.

"Reno..." she whispered and he noticed how unfocused her eyes were and he wondered if she could even really see him. She was probably woozy from blood-loss, and she was definitely going into shock. Again. "Reno, I'm sorry."

"What are you talking about?" he asked her, whipping his head back to see the men were almost to him. He didn't have time to listen to her right then, he needed to take the men away from her. "I'm going to keep you safe. I promise." He stood then, squaring his shoulders and carrying his EMR proudly at his side as he walked forward to meet the men who had harmed his little bug.

Bee watched him go, and felt tears escape her eyes, clouding her vision. She tried to lift an arm and wipe away the tears so that she could continue to watch him, but was frustrated when she realized that her arm wasn't listening to her. She wanted to watch him! Didn't her body understand that? She had to make sure he was okay, she had to rush in and cure him if he got hurt. She had to protect him, as he was protecting her now. As he always seemed to be doing lately. She had to... she had to do something besides sit there and cry like the pathetic lump that she was. But no matter how hard she tried, she could not move, and the tears flowed even more, running in her mascara and drawing salt-filled lines on her cheeks, finally being soaked up into the material of her blouse, like rain onto sand. And that was how she passed out, her shock and loss of blood finally overcoming her, and her last thought was that she wanted Reno to be okay, because how was she going to tell him that she was falling in love with him otherwise?

Reno, meanwhile, was grinning cockily at the men, tapping his EMR on his shoulder and he slowly walked forward to face them.

"We have no quarrel with you, Turk," the one man said, his voice gruff. He held a sword in one hand and he held it out, motioning for Reno to step aside. "Not today, at least."

"But, see, you just stabbed the girl I really like," Reno told him, trying to exude an air of confidence, and slowly finding himself slipping into anger. He took a breath to steady himself. Turks never entered into a fight with anger. It made you sloppy, clouded your judgement. And he couldn't afford to be sloppy right now. Protecting Bee and fighting two men at once until someone else arrived would take all of his focus. "So, really, you have a lot of quarrels with me. Enough to make me want to kill you."

The other man, the one with the shurikens, gave him an evil smile and motioned to Bee with his free hand. "We will kill the girl first before you can get to both of us."

"Well then you won't mind me asking why you want to kill her then, right?" Reno asked, prodding for information and stalling for Cloud's arrival all at the same time.

"She is the alchemist, is she not?" asked the shuriken-man. "She is the one that saved Rufus Shinra from our poison. Our spies have told us so. You were so concerned with protecting you precious president that you did not notice one of us following you to her shop. It was just a matter of time before we figured out that she was working for you. If we kill her, we can stop all WRO operations against us."

"Fuck," Reno swore loudly, hating himself more than he ever had in life. He had lead them right to her! If he had never brought Rufus to her, she wouldn't be sitting there bleeding out right now. She wouldn't be hurt, or afraid, or even in his life.

A loud motor sounded from behind the Wutain men, and Reno watched with insurmountable relief as Cloud on his motorcycle skidded to a stop just before Reno, causing the two strangers to leap out of the way, both rolling to opposite sides and then standing gracefully again, a move he had seen Yuffie use in the past. Cloud removed his riding goggles, letting them hang loosely, and then dismounted. He turned to take in the two men that had finally stood back up, straightening out their yellow uniforms and grasping their weapons tightly in their hands.

"Cloud," Reno nodded in greeting. He gestured over his shoulder at Bee, "You need to help her. I'm useless with Cure."

"Why am I not surprised," Cloud murmured sarcastically, making Reno flinch. He moved past Reno quickly, his fusion sword swinging on his back. When he reached Bee, he knelt down beside her, pulling her forwards when he saw no blood on her front. He observed the shuriken sticking out of her back and nodded to himself, then turned back to Reno and shouted to him. "I can stop the bleeding and seal the wounds, but we have to get her to a hospital as soon as we can."

"Right, I've got back-up coming, so we should be able to handle this fast," Reno assured him with a nod. Right on cue, the man with the sword flung forward, having been hit from behind. He landed on the cement, just before Reno, causing the Turk to smirk at his partner, who stood smugly behind the fallen Wutain. "Nice timing, Rude! You always know how to show up in style! But do me a favor, leave this guy alive, and let me kill the other guy. I _owe_ him."

"Sure," Rude agreed with a nod, pulling tightly on his leather gloves so that they fit his hand snugly. He moved forward towards the man that was still laying on the ground. Rude watched as his partner began to stalk off toward the Wutain with the shuriken, and he was struck by how Reno's eyes gleamed, his jaw seemingly wired shut, and he tapped his EMR a little more vigorously than usual against his shoulder. It was then that Rude saw Cloud in the distance, kneeling over the alchemist girl, his hands glowing on her back in white magic. Rude looked down at his next victim and gave the Wutain the barest of smirks and told him, "You went and pissed Reno off. I'm sorry that you won't survive the interrogation."

Reno barely heard Rude as his partner picked the man up by his shirt collar and sent him flying into the wall of a nearby building. He didn't watch as Rude easily detained the man after deflecting a sword swing, knocking it away and then knocking the man out cold. He didn't care that Rude had finished his fight before he did. The man with the shuriken consumed Reno's thoughts, because he was the man that tried to kill the best thing in his life, his ray of sunshine. He dashed forward, knocking incoming shuriken away with his EMR, and then reaching the Wutain, jabbing him in the gut with an electric shock. The man yelled out in pain, but recovered quickly, straightening out and pulling three more shuriken from a pouch on his leg. He made to throw them at Reno again, but the Turk was too fast. He managed to grab the Wutain's arm before he could even release the stars, and punch upwards at the throwing arm, breaking it in the process. This didn't stop the shuriken-man, and he used his other arm to go for a second pouch of stars, but Reno beat him to that too, breaking his hand flawlessly. There was a whip of red, and the Wutain found himself being thrown back by a kick from Reno. Looking up in his fall, he noticed the Turk was already on top of him, and the last thing he saw were Reno's eyes, glaring down at him in the most murderous rage he had ever seen. Then, the EMR was at his chest, just above his heart, and he was dead.

Reno dropped the man carelessly, looking down at the charred flesh of his chest. Reno was tempted to give him another shock, just for good measure and because he honestly thought that it would give him even greater satisfaction to char up the whole body, but he stopped just before the mans chest. Bee had moaned behind him, and he turned quickly, seeing that Cloud was standing now, holding Bee close to his chest. Instead, Reno stood, kicking the dead body away from him, and then ran to Cloud, finally noticing that Rude had beaten his opponent and that the sword-man was sitting unconscious at Rude's feet. People were running around the monument, yelling nonsense at nobody, and he vaguely felt annoyed at the crowd control that would have to be done later on.

"Is she okay?" Reno asked Cloud desperately once he had reached the two. He noticed that Bee was breathing easier, but her face was extremely pale. He made a move to touch her, but stopped himself short, a motion that did not go unnoticed to Cloud.

"She will be fine, but like I said, she needs to get to a hospital to get a blood donation. She doesn't have enough right now," Cloud told him gently, for once trying to make the Turk feel better. The panic had still not left Reno's eyes, and he looked Bee up and down like a wild dog who's territory had been threatened and had no idea how to fix it. "You can carry her if you want."

"What?" Reno asked Cloud, clearly distracted. He finally looked away from Bee, having been fully satisfied that she was in fact not in any immediate danger.

"You can take her," Cloud offered again, holding the girl out to him. Reno looked down at her, and Cloud was shocked to see him wince, and push Bee back into his own arms.

"No," he said dejectedly, "I don't deserve to hold her. I couldn't even heal her. I couldn't protect her."

"What?" Cloud didn't understand. Reno had handled the whole affair very well, in his opinion. He had found and defeated the source of Bee's attack quickly and soundly, and Rude even had one of the men in custody. Reno was smart enough to make sure Tseng called Cloud, someone close, with reliable transportation, and a means to heal Bee. And everyone had noticed how happy Bee had been over the past few weeks. Tifa always came back from the shop gushing about how much Bee had changed, and for the better. Her conversations were lighter, a smile always on her face, and she laughed and joked so much more than she used to. And it was all because of Reno, even Cloud could not deny it any longer.

"You take her to the hospital," Reno said, turning away from Bee, his shoulders hunched over, "I don't deserve to be around somebody like her. I'm a murderous Turk. And she's..."

"Your friend," Cloud stated obstinately.

Reno continued to walk away, shoving his hands in his pocket and gesturing for Rude to pick the sword-man up. "Who are we kidding? I could never keep a friend like her around. I'm no good for her."

Before Cloud could protest further, Rude picked the Wutain up, slung him over his shoulder, and flipped a phone open. Ten seconds later, a Shinra helicopter appeared from over the buildings. A ladder was thrown down to them, and Cloud looked up to see Elena standing in the chopper doorway, motioning for the other two to head up. They did so, with Rude having no difficulty bringing two people up the ladder at once. Cloud watched until Reno hoisted himself up into the helicopter, and with one last glance back at Bee, slid the door shut, obscuring Cloud's vision of him completely.


	13. What I Was Fighting For

Chapter 13: What I was Fighting For

Cloud placed Bee gently on his bike, securing her in front of him with his legs before taking off for the nearest hospital. He called Tifa on the way, letting her know the situation and asking her to call Reeve and let him know as well. She agreed and then quickly told him that she would meet him at the hospital once the phone-call was made and to take care of Bee. He didn't need to be told twice.

The doctors took Bee away, rushing her down the hall on a white stretcher once Cloud had reached the hospital, and Cloud sat patiently in the waiting room. Bee needed more blood, and fast, but otherwise she would be fine, the doctors told him, repeating what he already knew. Yet he sat in the waiting room anxiously, trying to remind himself that he had done the healing, he had seen her wounds mend right before his eyes. It figured that the one person who could have healed a wound like that completely, restoring blood cells and erasing even the scars, was the one who needed the healing.

Tifa came soon after Bee had been taken away, Marlene, Denzel, and Shelke on her heels. Yuffie came five minutes later, tears falling from her wide eyes. Tifa informed the group that Tseng would be sending Elena over to act as body guard to Bee, in case more of the Wutain men came looking for her. When Yuffie asked why Reno wasn't doing it, Cloud told her that Reno was busy interrogating the man they had captured. Yuffie reluctantly accepted the answer, knowing Cloud was hiding something. The subject was not broached again. Tifa also informed them that she had asked Reeve to let Toby know about what happened to his sister, but also said to not let Toby come and visit. Bee would contact her brother again when she was ready, and not before.

They waited for almost an hour before a doctor came out to them all, looking over a clipboard with a few papers on it. She smiled at them all and announced, "She's doing just fine. She's awake and wishes to see you all."

The doctor had never seen a group of people stand so fast and rush so quickly out of the waiting room in her entire career. She barely had time to tell them the room Bee had been placed in, they had all left the room so quickly. They all squeezed themselves into her room, and were surprised to find her sitting up, and smiling broadly at them.

"The doctor said I had visitors," she said cheerfully, "She said a man with spiky chocobo hair had brought me in, and that he and his friends were waiting for me. I said 'Yup, spiky chocobo head and big boobs are with me,' and I think I embarrassed her." The room was quiet, and Bee frowned, having thought that her joke was funny. "What? Wasn't that funny? I thought it was..."

"You just made a joke about my boobs," Tifa said confoundedly. "You never make jokes about my boobs."

"Aw, I knew I should have thought about that harder," Bee said forlornly.

"No!" Tifa quickly protested, "That was funny. It just... Reno's had a great effect on you, hasn't he?"

"Well yeah!" Bee answered happily. She looked around at everyone and noticed that he wasn't there and she frowned again. "Where is he? I thought he would have been here..."

"He left to help with the interrogation of one of the men who attacked you," Cloud answered her, his tone neutral. He honestly didn't know if Reno would be coming to see her or not, and he didn't want to admit that to her.

Her face fell, but only for a second. "Okay, then I will have to thank him later. But I can thank you now, Cloud. If you hadn't gotten there so quickly, I could have bled to death."

"No," Cloud disagreed, "Reno would have taken care of you."

Bee looked down at her hands which were placed delicately on her lap and she gave a small smile. "Yeah. I guess he would have."

"How are you feeling now though?" Yuffie asked kindly, moving to sit on Bee's bed beside her.

"Tired," Bee admitted, "and my back feels kinda weird. It doesn't hurt... It's like it's stiff or something."

"You've never had healing magic cast on a serious injury before," Tifa said with a small laugh, "Despite how much you cast it. That's normal, you'll feel better after some sleep."

"We can come visit you after you've awoken," Shelke suggested. Bee smiled at her and nodded.

"Yeah, that sounds good. I'll call you," she said, motioning to her phone which was resting on a table next to her bed.

"Elena is coming to guard your room," Tifa told her as everyone stood, and Marlene and Denzel went and hugged Bee. "We don't know if there are more of those men. We will call Reeve and see what he wants to do with the Turks and your protection."

"Okay," Bee said, lying back onto her bed. She gave a yawn, earning a chuckle from her friends, and she watched as they all filed out of her room one by one. Her last thought before she drifted off to sleep was that she couldn't wait to thank Reno for protecting her, and let him know that she still wanted to go mountain climbing.

Bee didn't know how long she slept for, but when she finally woke up again, it was dark outside her bedside window. When she turned, she noticed the the woman Turk, Elena, was sitting in the arm chair across from the door. She looked up from the book she was reading when she noticed Bee moving.

"You're awake," she greeted in a polite tone, "You've been sleeping for some time now."

"Did you sleep?" was Bee's first question, earning herself a laugh from the Turk.

"You'd think you'd be more focused on your own well-being," Elena teased gently, "You really are just as Reno said you were."

"Reno?" Bee asked, perking up now. She sat herself upright, moving the pillows behind her so that they cushioned her back. She could barely feel the pain anymore. "He talked about me?"

Elena could not bring herself to tell Bee that Reno had sent Elena instead of going himself, and had only given the basic outline of Bee's personality in the Turk's file on Bee. She and the other Turks were well aware of the amount of time that Reno had been spending with the girl, and how much he had grown to care for her. It was no secret that Reno had developed real feelings for Bee. But Elena watched as Reno broke, right in front of her, determined to never place Bee in danger again, believing it was because of him that she was lying in a hospital bed at that very moment.

"He... he has," Elena told her, feeling her heart ache when Bee's face lit up at that. It wasn't a complete lie. Reno had spoken of her in the past, an off-hand remark before the meeting, a joke about her overachieving when they asked how she was progressing. Thankfully, Bee changed the subject all on her own.

"Did you find anything out from that man?" the girl asked, remembering that Cloud had told her the Turks were interrogating the Wutain with the sword. She turned and grabbed her phone, flipping it open and pressing down on the buttons in order to send a text to Tifa that she was awake and feeling better. She flipped the phone back, leaving it in her lap instead of the table, and then looked back to Elena expectantly.

"Yes, we did," Elena answered with a nod, "They were the only two stationed here. They've been spying on your shop for a week now. You said yourself at the meeting that you are basically the only potion shop in Edge. It wasn't hard for them to find you. I think they would have found you even if we hadn't been careless and lead them straight there in the first place..." She trailed off, her face scrunched in anger at her own failure.

"You had a lot of other things going on," Bee said dismissively, shaking her head, "I don't blame you for this at all. There was no other way to save Mr. Shinra. It was good that Reno remembered me."

_Tell that to him_, Elena thought dryly, though she refused to say it aloud. Instead, she said, "Either way, they were the only two here. However, now that they are both gone, the Wutai rebels will eventually notice their absence and may send more to try and kill you before you can complete enough antidotes to help with the WRO. Therefore, a Turk, Cloud, or Yuffie, will be stationed at your house at all times, and will act as a body guard during your routine visits in Edge."

"Oh," Bee answered, processing Elena's words. She didn't really like the thought of having someone watching over her at all hours of the day, and then even throughout the night. Trying to find a silver lining she asked, "Well, Reno will come too, right? We can still eat dinner together and watch movies like we normally do?"

Elena paused, not having realized the extent to which Reno and Bee spent their time together. She had no idea that they were doing thing such as having dinner together, let alone watching movies together.

"You've... become very attached to Reno, haven't you?" Elena asked, placing her book on the arm of the chair she was sitting in, and scooting forward to get a closer look at Bee's face. The girl's hair was a mess from her ordeal and from sleeping for almost a whole day, and her eyes were a bit dull as she was still recovering from blood-loss. But she gave off a lively air that had not been present at the meeting back at headquarters. Just what had Reno done to her in only three weeks?

"He's my friend," Bee replied, as if it were obvious, "I'm attached to all of my friends."

"Well, Reno doesn't really have many friends. Let alone female friends. He generally just has females that he sleeps with..." Elena admitted, looking up at the ceiling as she tried to remember a single friend that Reno had mentioned outside of Rude. None came to mind, except for Bee.

"Ah, I know..."

Elena looked back at Bee, noticing that the girl had gone very red, and refused to meet her eyes. Realization dawned on Elena. She had been wondering how they knew each other from the very get go.

"You and Reno... You slept together, didn't you?" Elena asked bluntly. This only caused Bee to turn even more red, and to splutter out a yes. "He left the next morning, didn't he? He's never been one for more than a one night stand."

"He did leave, and I know that," Bee said sullenly, "I wasn't proud of myself. I was drunk, I didn't know what I was doing. I never meant for Reno to happen. I'm so glad that we became friends, he means a lot to me, but that night... It still..."

"I understand," Elena told her kindly, moving forward to place a hand on Bee's foot, the closest part of Bee that she could reach. Bee smiled sheepishly at her and nodded a thanks.

"You think he'll ever change?" Bee asked suddenly. She tried sitting up straighter, stretching her back in the process. She sighed in content when the muscles around her recently closed wounds unwound and loosened, allowing Bee to get more comfortable.

"You mean do I think Reno will ever go for more than a one night stand?" Elena clarified. Bee nodded and Elena thought about it for a minute. She crossed her legs, and leant forward, leaning on the arm of the chair that didn't have her book on it. "I don't think that Reno will ever stay the next morning until he finally falls in love. When he sleeps with the girl that he loves, he will break his one night stands."

"I guess that makes sense..." Bee agreed slowly, thinking it over. "I just can't see Reno falling in love. He's too committed to his job to have room for anything else."

"He made time for you," Elena pointed out, sitting back in her chair, satisfied with her answer earlier.

Bee looked at Elena and noticed that the Turk was watching her with careful and calculating eyes. Bee unconsciously clenched her hands together in her lap. Her breath caught in her throat for a second and she thought back to just before she had passed out in front of the monument. How she had watched Reno walk away from her to take on her attackers. How much of a hero he looked to her at that moment, so unlike a Turk. How she had wanted desperately to run to his side, take all the blows for him so that he wouldn't be hurt. How much he had changed her life in such a short time. And finally, how she wanted to tell him that she was falling in love with him, slowly, but definitely. She had forgotten all about that thought, and was surprised to find that she was calm. She didn't disagree with the thought, didn't pass it off as a delusional thought because she was woozy. She had meant it.

Elena was right. Reno did make time for Bee. Reno made a lot of time for her, more time than she thought he would.

"You are in love with Reno," Elena determined calmly.

"I am," Bee admitted quietly, looking away from Elena now and gazing down at her hands, still clenched in her lap.

"I'm sorry," Elena offered sadly.

"Me too," Bee choked out. She watched as the tears dripped from her chin and dripped onto her hands, not even bothering to wipe them away.

Elena watched silently, knowing that Bee had realized that her love would never be returned. Reno would always first and foremost be a Turk, and that the best he had to offer to Bee was friendship. Bee admitted to herself what she knew all along; Reno would always be just out of her reach, slipping through her fingers like sand. She could hold the sand with two hands, covet the cool feeling against her palms, but one wrong move and it all slipped easily away, reduced to thousands of pieces that she never really knew were all there anyway. Just when she thought she had him fully, she realized that she never really had him at all, and she never would. He was too much for her to hold all at once, she could never know him fully. There would always be parts of him that she would never know, secrets he kept hidden from her, both for her benefit and for his. She realized she was too innocent for him, too naïve in the real ways of the world. Her times in the slums had hardened her, but she knew if she were faced with the things that her friends and the Turks faced on a normal basis, she would crumble.

Had she been fooling herself all this time, thinking that she could fit into Reno's world so easily? That she could remain by his side, even after her work for the WRO was finished? Once the conflict in Wutai was done, Reno would not be around as much. Right now, the Turks mission was _her_, to watch over her progress. They sent Elena to watch over her like it was no big hassle because it really wasn't. She was their objective the whole time. How could Bee have assumed that she would always be able to see Reno, always be able to maintain a solid friendship with him? She didn't even really _know_ him. She knew the Reno that he was when he was with her, but not the Reno that he was during work. She had ignored it, ignored the fact that he was a Turk, never poking too much into that part of his life because she loved the Reno that she had right in front of her. So selfish, she concluded, to assume that he would hang on to her forever.

"He isn't coming, is he?" she asked Elena, wiping at her tears. She seemed to be doing a lot of that lately, and she was extremely embarrassed that she was doing it in front of Elena, a Turk that she had never talked to before.

"I don't think so, no," Elena told her reluctantly.

Bee only nodded in silent acknowledgement of Elena's answer, and then laid back down, moving her pillows down with her. She cried for a long time, thinking over and over again how stupid she was, and wondering how she had gotten where she was. How had she let herself fall for a Turk, and let her relationship with her brother crumble so badly, and let her life become so monotonous? She found no answer, not on the back of her eyelids, not from Elena, and not on the ceiling. And even nowhere from within herself.

A day earlier, Reno had found himself escorting the Wutain with the sword down the long halls of the WRO building's thirtieth floor, the designated floor for the Turks and Rufus Shinra. And by escort, Reno really meant that he was dragging the Wutain down the hall, the man's feet scraping the tiles below his feet, kicking and thrashing against Reno's hold and the shackles that bound his hand, but to no avail. Reno was a man on a mission, completely determined, and nobody was going to stand in his way. Personnel moved out of his way, terrified at the cold look in his eyes, and the inhumane way he dragged his captive behind him. Everyone had always been wary of the Turks in their building, but Reno had always been more approachable than Rufus or Tseng. He joked easily with the janitors or the soldiers, flirted mercilessly with the secretaries. But this was a Reno possessed, and Shiva help anyone that tried to stop him.

Tseng was the only one to have the nerve, and really the authority, to place a hand on Reno's shoulder and stop him. They had just reached the interrogation room, and Reno had thrown the Wutain into the lone chair of the room, shackling his feet to the bottom of the chair, and then his wrists to the arms. He fought back the whole time, even when Reno bashed him over the head with his EMR, drawing blood on contact. He was relentless in his attempts to escaped, a trait that most Wutains shared.

"Reno," Tseng barked, finally getting his subordinated attention, "We will discuss interrogation procedures outside."

"What's there to discuss? I'm getting the information out of him, any means necessary," Reno protested, earning himself a glare from his Chief. "Fine."

The four Turks left the room, closing and locking the door on their way out. Rufus was waiting for them on the other side of the one-sided window, looking at their captive with great interest. He listened in on the Turk's conversation in silence, remaining obstinately aloof.

"I don't think you should be in the room for this, Reno," Tseng told his fellow Turk sternly. Elena and Rude watched Reno for his reaction, prepared to hold him back if the need arose.

"What?!" Reno seethed, "Are you kidding me, Chief? This is my man! My interrogation! If anyone should do it, I should be the one! He's part of the group that wants her dead! This is my responsibility!"

Elena refrained from making a comment about how Reno never wanted responsibility, and listened to Tseng instead. "You are too angered to be able to do this interrogation without the chance of killing him first. You are in no way emotionally stable enough to be handling this right now."

"I'm fine! I want this information more than all of you, there's no way I'm letting you take this from me!" Reno argued back, taking a half-step towards Tseng and waving at hand at him.

"Reno, my case in point right there," Tseng bit back, motioning at Reno's outburst.

Reno was about to argue back, when Rufus spoke up, still looking through the window.

"Let him do it, Tseng," he told his head Turk, "A person very important to our mission was injured today. I cannot ever have that happen again. Let him send a message to the rebel group that we will not tolerate such attacks in the future. And besides," Rufus turned away from the widow, looking at Reno now, "That person also happens to be very important to him as well."

The Turks stood in stunned silence for just a heartbeat before Reno sprang into action again, thanking Rufus briefly before almost sprinting back into the interrogation room. The remaining Turks and Rufus stayed outside, all four gathering at the window to watch Reno in his work.

"When someone that you love is hurt, either emotionally or physically, there is nothing that will stop you from getting revenge on that person," Rufus told Tseng, answering Tseng's unspoken question. Rufus glanced at Elena quickly, knowing that she was thinking of her sister. "So, I would hate to have to shoot Reno for attacking you in order to get what he wants. He's a good Turk, and Shiva knows we don't have any to spare."

Even Tseng managed to smirk at his comment, and watch Reno with a lighter conscience.

Reno, meanwhile, had stalked over to lean against the side wall, directly across from the Wutain. He was swinging his EMR in his hand, lazily and without effort, the leather strap circling his wrist smoothly. He caught it every other swing, whipping it back in the other direction and then repeating the whole process. The Wutain watched him with stoic eyes, giving nothing away.

"I already know who sent you," Reno informed the man, "And you already told me why you came here. So, why don't you just tell me how many more of you there are so we can get this over with, huh? Won't have to rough you up or anything." It was a lie. Reno knew it, Rufus knew it, and the Turks knew it, but they were all hoping the Wutain didn't.

"I would die before I told you," the man spat at him, rocking himself in his chair, lifting the feet off the ground a bit before it slammed back down with a loud crack.

In normal situations, Tseng did the interrogating. He was the best at it, always managing to keep his composure. He usually cracked a person within a few minutes, whispering unspeakable things into the person's ears, and then breaking their necks quickly once they had spilled the information. Rude often went when Tseng could not. He was big, quiet, and intimidating. Sometimes, he used violence, slapping the person around a bit before they told him what he wanted to hear. Once he had his information, he too snapped their necks, leaving them dead before he left the room. Elena only ever did the interrogating when it was a woman, or maybe a teenager. They felt safer with her, often telling her things because they assumed she wouldn't harm them. They were always wrong, and they always wound up with a bullet hole in their head when she was finished with them.

Reno almost never interrogated. He hated it, found it to be boring. Where was the excitement in getting information from someone? But on the rare occasion that he did, he often pulled a chair into the room and sat across from his victim, ignoring them completely. Sometimes he brought magazines in, other times he cleaned his gun, or fine tuned his EMR. And it drove the other person crazy. Thoughts of what he was going to do to them rang through their heads, ideas and methods of torture driving them insane. They waited, and waited, and waited, slowly becoming more and more disturbed in their ideas of how he was going to get them to give him information. Eventually, the would crack, screaming at Reno the information he needed, begging him to just leave them be. It was a slow and torturous process, and was usually only used on younger people. Reno would stand, thank his victim, and then shock them right over the heart with his EMR, killing them instantly.

But this situation called for none of those methods, especially not Reno's normal one. This one called for as much pain as Reno could inflict on that man as possible.

"That's the wrong answer, pal," he sneered, cracking the Wutain over the hand with his EMR, breaking a few fingers and definitely the hand itself in the process. He howled in pain, rocking his chair back and forth again. "I can do this all night. You pissed me off something bad, you got that? I have no problem breaking every bone in your body if that's what this is gonna take. In fact, I'd probably enjoy that. So, go ahead, don't give me what I need. That is _fiiiine_ by me."

"Death first," the man said, his teeth grit in pain.

"Not gonna happen." Another whack, and the Wutain's second hand was broken. This time when he rocked his chair back, Reno moved to hold it down. "You're gonna break the chair."

"We will defeat you! Shinra will finally end!"

Another crack, this time breaking some ribs.

"Wutai is precious to you, isn't it?" Reno asked suddenly, moving away from the man. He looked up at Reno, blood spilling out of his mouth having been coughed up from his lungs. "You would do anything to protect it, even die for it, is that right? Well, I have something like that too, you understand? Something that I would give my life to protect. That I would sit here in your position and get beat on, and still never give anything away because that something is worth more than any pain inflicted on me. And if Wutai was threatened, and you were in my position, you wouldn't leave this room until I gave you all the information you needed. Isn't that right?"

"What is your point, _Turk?_" He pronounced the title with disdain, staring up at Reno with defiant eyes.

"Well your partner threw shuriken into my something's back earlier today. And I watched as she bled in my arms, watched as her face showed pain. And it was _your_ buddy that gave her that pain. I got news for you, your partner is _dead_ now because of what he did to her. So what do you think I'm gonna do to _you_ in order to protect her further?" Reno asked, leaning down closer to the man and giving him the fiercest grin that he could manage, and he was rewarded with the most satisfying look in a victim's eyes that you can receive as an interrogator. He saw _fear_.

Five minutes later saw Reno leaving the room, the smell of charred flesh following him out the door. Elena covered her nose, still not used to the smell, and looked away from the window, meeting Reno's eyes. He seemed dead to her, and for the first time in her life, she felt sorry for him. Deeply, truly sorry for the man who had seemed unbreakable to her.

"There are no more in Edge," Reno told them, "He said they would send more when their intelligence messages stopped being received. They've been watching her for a week, waiting for the right moment."

"We will have to post a guard on her at all times," Tseng mused, "Would you like to volunteer?"

"No," he surprised them all by saying. He gave no explanation and instead turned to walk away from them, heading for the office he never used, to sit at the desk he never sat at. He wanted to get away from them, away from the people who saw her only as a tool to be used to help their stupid armies. Away from the people who knew that he saw her as so much more than that. Away from the people who would never understand what he felt when he saw her blood gushing from her back.

He had expected one of them to follow. He had not expected it to be Elena. It hadn't taken her long to pick the lock on his office door, it weren't a very good one anyway. She found him sitting in his swivel office chair, his feet on the desk. There were no papers on it; Rude always wrote the reports for him as they were almost always sent on mission together. When they weren't, Tseng usually just pretended that he had received a report from Reno because reading reports from Reno always gave him a headache. The walls were bare too, only a few books lined his bookshelves. Elena wasn't surprised. Even before Reno had met Bee, he had liked to spend most of his time away from his office. He said it was unhealthy sitting in there when he never had anything to do in there anyway.

She sat in the only other chair in the room, probably in there for Rude, and observed his face, the way he avoided looking at her, how empty his eyes seemed to be. He just sat, staring into space, and Elena let him. Turks were never very good talkers, but Elena knew that if he wanted to talk, he would. She had someone she wanted to protect too, and she knew what it felt like to have that person ripped away from her. She knew it all too well. She had gone through it already with her sister. So she sat, and let him decide when he wanted to talk, and what he wanted to say.

"Do you think hearts can die?" he asked her after a while, "And I don't mean like literally because I've zapped one too many hearts to know that they can. I mean, can they stop... stop feeling? Because I thought I stopped a long time ago when I got this job. I stopped feeling sorry for all the people I killed, stopped feeling sorry for who I was before, stopped feeling sorry for every life I ruined. I stopped feeling attached because there was no point. I kept an upbeat attitude because without that in this job, you go crazy, I know I've seen it. But I wouldn't say I felt happy. This job is a lot better when you stop feeling emotions and start pretending. So I thought my heart died."

"Obviously you were wrong," Elena told him, seeing where he was going with his outburst.

"Yeah, guess I was," he agreed, though his voice did not seem to want to agree, "Tseng told me that it wasn't wrong to want to be with her, that I was lucky. That I should 'protect and cherish her.' And I tried, I really did, because honestly, being around her was the only time I ever let myself feel human again. And I haven't felt human in a long time, like _really_ alive. Sure, a nice kill gives me a great jolt, but it wasn't the same as being with her. But... Tseng was wrong! He was so wrong."

"Just because she got hurt one time doesn't mean you can't be her friend. She was an actual threat to the rebels, she would have been targeted even if she wasn't involved with you," Elena assured him, trying to convince him that he was wrong in any way possible, "She was lucky you were there to stop them."

"No! That's just it!" he yelled back, standing up from his chair, his feet slamming on the ground and his office chair bouncing off of the tile and then landing on the side. Elena watched calmly as he continued, "She wouldn't have gotten hurt at all if I had never been in her life in the first place! If I had never brought Rufus to her! If I had never..." He stopped just short of saying, If I had never slept with her.

"So you're going to run away at the first sign of trouble?" Elena prodded him, disapproval on her face, "She gets hurt in something that she involved herself in voluntarily, and you run away? Instead of staying and protecting her like a real friend would, you're going to distance yourself from her? Reno, none of this is your fault."

"It's all completely my fault!" he announced, still yelling. Elena wondered if Tseng or Rude would come rushing into the room because of the yelling. She doubted it. They knew why Reno was so upset. And they planned to stay clear of him. "She's so innocent, so good. A _good person_. How could I have gone on, bringing blood into her life? Every relationship like this ends badly, it's just basic knowledge of a Turk, one of the first things you learn. You learn to kill and not care, and then you learn to not care for anything else either. Your heart dies. I thought... I thought that if I stayed around her, she would bring it back, she would make me normal again! Give me a life besides the Turks. That was so stupid, there is no life besides the Turks, I knew that, but she made me forget. So stupid. I just corrupted her, killed her innocence, ruined her! What was I _thinking_?"

"You're being pathetic, Reno," she surprised him by saying sharply. He turned to look at her, his rage stunted for the moment. "You obviously care for her so much, it's disgusting. You are running away. You know what happened when my sister was exiled? When I thought I would never see her again?"

"No," Reno admitted. He had never known where the exiled Turks went, or how they had really made their way back to Midgar, or even where they disappeared to again afterwards. He assumed they had cut all ties, that Elena and her sister never talked.

"Did you never hear about why Tseng decided to hire me?" she asked dubiously.

"No, did you ever hear about why I was hired?" he retorted. Turks didn't ask questions about that sort of thing.

"You highjacked one of Shinra's helicopters, and it took Tseng and Veld over two months to find you. When they finally did, you managed to beat a whole unit of Heidegger's grunts before Veld caught you at gunpoint," Elena answered, unimpressed. Reno stared at her, wondering how it was she knew that, but she continued, "I was hired because I showed exceptional skills at hacking, and never getting caught. My sister and I had maintained a private correspondence after she was exiled, and we were never detected, even by Tseng. He didn't know until my interview. Had I been caught, I would have been executed along with my sister. I risked my life to keep in touch with her, and in return she risked her own. And do you know why? Because my sister was the only good thing in my life, and I was the only good thing in her life, and our lives were worth less than losing each other. We knew that if we lost each other, we would lose everything that mattered in life. I would lose what I was fighting for. Everyone needs something to fight for, even you, Reno."

"I fight because it's my job. Always have. What more reason do I need?" He was angry again, looming over Elena, trying to intimidate her into seeing his way and he knew it wasn't working and he didn't care.

"Because if that's all you fight for, then you're just empty inside," she responded, still calm in the face of his anger.

"Well, like I said, my heart died when I took this job, so I'm already empty," he argued back, heading for the door now, finished dealing with Elena, "And I'm not going to let hers die too. She's too good for that."

He slammed the door behind him, rattling the chair that was still laying on the ground. Elena stood and righted the chair again, easily slipping it back into place by the desk, and mused on how ironic it was that those two obviously different objects worked so well with each other, but could never acknowledge it. They did not feel.

* * *

A/N: I really don't think Elena gets enough credit sometimes, especially not in the game. She obviously wouldn't be hired as a Turk is she wasn't good enough for the position. I enjoy writing her because I feel that we didn't see a lot of her in the game, so there is a lot of leeway in writing her character. She was barely in Advent Children, and the most we see of her is in On the Way to a Smile: In the Case of Shinra. So, I think fanfiction authors have a lot of input on how they write her. Let me know what you think of my version of her! You will see a lot more of the other Turks now, especially Tseng. Keep in mind, as it is easy to forget this, Bee and Tseng have known each other since Bee was a child! That will factor in later on.

Also, I've slowed down in writing this story, I am at chapter 20 right now. I just got a job and two girls have quit since I was hired (not because of me, I swear!) and now there is only four of us where I work, two of which are the manager and assistant manager. Therefore, my hours have picked up substantially and I may not be able to update as much. I will update once a week, it's just a matter of when at this point. If I get to chapter 15 and have not finished writing chapter 20, I will have to take a week break to write at least two more chapters, but this story will continue, so do not worry!


	14. The Biggest Exception

Chapter 14: The Biggest Exception

Bee was escorted out of the hospital with exactly two weeks left before her deadline to have all the antidotes finished for the WRO. Her back had healed completely, it no longer ached and she was no longer tired. It was time to get back to work.

Tifa had gone to pick Bee up in the older girl's truck, bringing Marlene along for the ride. Bee sat in silence the whole ride to her shop, only opening her mouth to thank Tifa for getting her and then letting Tifa know that Elena would be watching over her that night, and that Rude would be taking over tomorrow. Elena had talked to Bee about her bodyguards ahead of time. Even Tseng would be watching over Bee at some points. Yuffie had volunteered already, and Cloud would be with her several days as well. The only one who would be absent was Reno, a fact that did not go amiss to the martial artist.

The only female Turk met Bee at her shop, waiting patiently outside. She had gone ahead to scout out the area, making sure there were no more men waiting. She had even borrowed Bee's key, checking every room, in every closet, under Bee's bed, and even under the staircase. There was no sign of anyone, not even that anyone had been there recently. Bee offered Elena the couch, but the Turk declined, telling Bee that she would not be sleeping. Bee was under twenty-four hour guard, and the shifts were cyclical. A change when she woke up, a change at lunch, a change at dinner, and a change when she went to bed. And then repeat the next day. No one was going to harm her again.

She went to bed that night, curling into a ball on her side, her blanket draped over her for comfort. She fingered the bracelet around her wrist, turning it over and over, tracing the intricate patterns etched into the silver. It was the first night she ever went to bed with it on, as she had always been afraid to break it in her sleep. But she wore it that first night, and for the rest of the week, finding comfort in an item given to her by a man who had represented perfectly what it meant to be a hero. It was funny, when she had seen Reno walk away to face the Wutains that had attacked her, it had reminded her much of when Zack had left her house, the very day he gave her that bracelet. She slept that night and dreamt of the backs of her friends as each walked slowly away from her. Each looked heroic in their own ways, but as she ran after them, they disappeared, just as they were about to face her, dispersing into a dark smoke that choked her, making her wake up several times throughout the night.

It didn't take long for Bee to get back to making antidotes. She had noticed that her time with Reno had slowed her down a bit, but now she had a lot of free time. She used the excuse of working on them to not visit the 7th Heaven, to not go eat at random places at Edge. Bee's routine became more monotonous than before she had even met Reno. She woke up, got ready for the day, ran through directions with whomever was running her shop for her that day, made antidotes, closed shop, saw patients, ate dinner while making more antidotes, made even more antidotes, showered, went to bed. She did not break the routine, and did not try and talk to anyone.

Yuffie always chattered away endlessly, uncomfortable with how silent her friend was being. Bee always participated in conversation, but her words were hollow, meaningless, and dismissive. This caused Yuffie to talk even more, ask more questions, invite her to more places. Yuffie never asked about Reno, which was the one good thing about working with her. But keeping conversation with her was exhausting, and Bee found she couldn't keep up with her friend, often falling behind and letting Yuffie carry the conversation for her.

Elena did not come by as often as the others. She claimed to be the only one capable of office work besides Tseng, and he was usually busy with everything else. Elena was more the Turk who assessed Bee's mental stability the first two days, then left Bee to the others. Bee didn't mind being observed by Elena, that wasn't bothersome or annoying to her. Many people had looked at her the way Elena had those first two days. Calculating how Bee works, wondering how she does it all. It was the underlying pity that Bee felt from Elena's gaze that bothered her, like Elena knew something that Bee didn't. And no matter how much Bee tried to ignore it, it was always there, peeking through the curiosity Elena showed in Bee. Pity for her situation? Pity for Reno? Pity for a unknown factor? Bee had no idea; there were a number of things Elena could pity Bee for, countless silly things that Bee cared not to list, and not to think about. But Elena kept looking, kept calculating, kept pitying. And Bee kept ignoring, kept pretending it wasn't there.

This was why she liked working with Rude the most. He never tried to talk to her, never bugged her with conversation, and she never saw what his eyes gave away because of his sunglasses. Sometimes, she even forgot he was there until he was forced to ask her a question that he couldn't answer for a customer (which happened most often with him, but never really bothered her). She often wondered if he hated her, he had been Reno's best friend after all. She wondered if when he looked at her, he saw the biggest source of Reno's pain, and if he resented her for that. She didn't know, and she knew she probably never would.

It was not until Wednesday, her third day into her new routine, that Rude approached her.

"I lost somebody I loved once," he told her in his deep voice from behind her. She jumped, having been focusing on her plant-cutting so intently, she had forgotten he was there. Again. He had come to her from behind her, looming over her at the counter with his tall frame. His lips twitched in the barest of smiles and continued, "I had a... an almost girlfriend."

Bee regarded him warily as he sat on her unused stool, sitting with perfect posture. His head was angled her way, so she assumed he was making eye contact with her, but she wasn't sure.

"What happened?" she asked, not knowing what else to say.

"She was part of the original AVALANCHE," he told her.

"The one before Barret," she clarified. Rude nodded and Bee told him, "I don't know much about them."

"We were ordered to defeat them. She asked me out in order to place a tracer on my phone. I was informed she could not do it because she actually cared about me. So she protected me by leaving me. I wish she hadn't. I didn't know her long, but I knew that I wanted to be with her. And I understood why she left, but to this day, I always wondered what would have happened if she had stuck around, if we had worked things out." It was the longest thing Bee had ever heard Rude say, maybe it _was_ the longest thing he ever said. She couldn't help but stare at him, wondering where this was coming from.

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked him, completely forgetting about her plants at this point. The stem lay in pieces in front of her, cut into fractions of what it once was, but she ignored it.

"Because I do not want that for you and Reno. I do not want to watch as my partner goes through life wondering what would have happened if he had worked things out with you. It is a painful and slow healing process, losing someone that is more important than your own life. Time does not always heal everything, I know from experience. Do not let yourself experience this as well." He left her, returning to the register counter behind the work station, and did not speak to her again, did not even wait for her to answer him. And that was how it remained every time afterwards, and Bee was left to mull over his words, wishing he had stayed silent more and more as her thoughts went on and on.

Bee's least favorite person to work with was Tifa (who did not act as bodyguard but often relieved a Turk of shop-keeping duties), because at least Yuffie had the common sense to ignore the huge bomb in the room. Tifa did not, and constantly tried to get Bee to talk to her about Reno, but that was the last thing she wanted to do. To talk about Reno was to acknowledge that they had been real, that he was a physical being and had been involved in her life. It was why she never went into her living room again after she came home from the hospital. The TV was still there and while Bee could not bring herself to throw out such a gift, she also could not bring herself to be in the same room as it. To sit on the couch alone instead of snuggled into Reno's chest. To watch a movie without being able to discuss it with Reno afterwards.

But Tifa insisted, asking, asking, asking. Poking, poking, poking. Prodding, prodding, prodding. It was to the point where Bee had to remind herself over and over again that Tifa was only concerned for Bee's well being, only wanted to see her friend smile again. Tifa believed that talking it over with Bee would make it all better, but Bee knew this was not true. No amount of pouring her soul out to her friend would make Reno come back. No words could be said that would suddenly magic Reno to her shop. Nothing could be done to change the fact that Reno was a Turk, and Bee was a civilian. There was no point at holding sand together anymore for Bee. It was gone, lost in the wind and blended in with the rest of the sand. Tifa never took the hint, however, and pressed Bee endlessly to call Reno, ask how he was, try and figure out what went wrong. But to Bee, there never was anything to figure out. She already knew.

The first day Tifa had watched over the shop, she had asked Bee to go to dinner, knowing that Bee would probably miss going with Reno.

"It'll be fun! I've never gone with you before!" Tifa exclaimed happily, leaning over Bee's work counter, smiling down at her.

Bee looked back up, trying desperately to hide her annoyance. She loved Tifa so much, and she knew that her friend was just trying to make her feel better. She had made a lot of progress in just that one day on her antidotes, so she had been trying to concentrate on making yet another box full when Tifa had walked over to talk to her.

"I wasn't actually planning on eating out tonight," Bee told her, her voice neutral. She looked back down at her work, silently willing Tifa to leave her, let her be, let her deal with this all herself. But Tifa persisted.

"What? You eat out every night! Come on, I'll ask Yuffie to come! Won't that be fun?" Tifa pushed, placing a hand on Bee's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Tifa, but I fell behind in my work. I really need to get these done. I was just going to make dinner here and continue my work. I don't want to disappoint Reeve," Bee responded. Tifa wanted to argue back, Bee knew it, but she was being ignored now. Bee had returned to her antidote making with even more fervor and Tifa knew she was dismissed. She walked away from her friend, but looked back sadly at the younger girl. Bee was trying to act tough, hold it all in, but Tifa knew that without Reno, Bee was going back to how she had been before, if not worse than before. Bee was retrogressing in Reno's absence, and it killed Tifa to feel like there was no way to help her.

Cloud was another Bee didn't mind working with. He usually kept quiet, already knew a lot about Bee's store and didn't often need her help with anything, and he did not look at her with pity in his eyes. Bee knew that he had tried talking to Tifa on several occasions about Bee, telling her to calm down, leave Bee alone. Bee was thankful for that. They had a mutual and unspoken agreement that they would not mention it, and both would go on acting like normal. This meant that when Cloud asked Bee what she wanted for her birthday, or what kind of cake she liked the best, Bee answered politely and truthfully. And then Bee would ask Cloud about Wutai, about how Denzel and Marlene were doing, if Shelke was making progress, and he would answer back too. But like with her talks with Yuffie, Bee's words seemed empty, her questions an act, her voice rehearsed. She was going through the motions on a reflex, but had no heart in them, a body without its central control. Cloud noticed, and let it go, because he knew pointing it out to her so soon after her heart was hurt, would rub it even more raw, and she would never recover.

He did, however, on Tuesday, ask her about her brother.

"Have you spoken to Toby since you last saw him?" Cloud asked. He had just helped out a customer pick out an ether, and the question seemed random, pulled out of the air. Obviously, Cloud had been thinking on the subject previously.

Bee was kneeling on the ground, packing up her antidotes in another box, taping it shut and labeling it. She shoved it under her work station, noting that Elena would be coming later on and that she would have to let the Turk know she had finished another bunch.

"No," she replied, trying to convey that she didn't want to talk about it.

If Cloud understood her intention, however, he ignored it and continued, "Are you planning on talking to him soon?"

Bee paused before going back to working on even more antidotes. She looked over at Cloud who stood precariously by the register counter, his back to the window in the front of the shop. The sunlight cast highlights in his hair, making it seem even lighter than it already was. Bee remembered briefly when she thought that Cloud was the most beautiful man she had ever met. How the times have changed.

"I don't think so, no," Bee answered finally.

"He's your brother, Bee. You can't avoid him forever. You are one of the lucky ones, you can say you have family," Cloud pointed out. Bee was surprised to see disapproval on his face, and she immediately became ashamed of herself. Cloud had never looked down at her in her life, nobody really ever had.

"I know this, it's just..." Bee trailed off, embarrassed and confused by her actions at the same time.

Cloud moved towards her then and placed his hands on her shoulders, as he normally did when giving her advice. She looked into his face and was reminded of her dream two nights ago and she felt a deep sadness. One that she could not explain.

"Toby hurt you, I understand that. Tifa understands that, Yuffie understands that. We get why you never talked about him. But he is your brother, and he looked for you. He searched because he loved you. He still loves you. And he was not the only one to do the hurting. You hurt him by not forgiving him. You should talk to him about it all," Cloud lectured softly, never letting Bee's gaze wander else where even though she desperately wanted it to.

"I... I know. You're right," she finally consented, "But I can't right now. I don't think... I don't think I'm in a good enough place right now to have that conversation with him. I would end up hurting the both of us all over again, and then who knows if he'll even want to talk to me again."

Cloud nodded and let go of Bee's shoulders, taking a step back from her. "I understand. Just don't let something so important and rare as family slip away easily."

"I won't," Bee replied, nodding in return, "I promise."

It was the only time anyone ever mentioned Toby to her, and the only time Cloud had broached a personal topic with Bee.

Finally, there was Tseng. He normally took the night shift, when Bee was sleeping. She almost never saw him. He hid outside, on the rooftop across from her shop, keeping watch like a shadow in the dark. Therefore, Bee was surprised when Thursday morning rolled around and Tseng was waiting for her downstairs, having just relieved Rude of his duty. She had wondered if he hadn't ever approached her because of their past encounters while he watched over Aerith, but it obviously wasn't the case if he was seeing her now.

"Tseng," she greeted politely.

She started to walk over to her work bench when she heard him call her name. Her real name. She whipped around, having completely forgotten that he knew it. Aerith had called her name a thousand times over as a child, of course Tseng knew it. Yet, he had never told anyone, as far as she knew. Nobody had told her otherwise at least.

"Do not use that name," she told him through gritted teeth, anger surging through her suddenly. She was not entirely surprised at her anger, she had been on edge lately, a ticking time bomb. She prayed that Tseng, of all people, would not be the one to set it off.

"I apologize," he said, holding his hands up in a sign of surrender.

"What do you want?"

"We are going out," he said simply, heading for the door without waiting for a response. "Your shop will be run by Yuffie today, she will be here shortly. You can continue making antidotes later on."

"What?" Bee was completely taken off guard by his assertion. Where could Tseng possibly want to go with her?

"I have a car waiting for us. We are taking a short trip," he told her, unperturbed by her concern. He started to head out the door, ushering for her to follow. Right on cue, Yuffie appeared in the window, waving happily at Bee and smiling hugely. She bounded in through the door, and practically jumped on Bee, smothering her in a bone crushing and breath stealing hug.

"Bee!" she yelled happily, "I heard Tseng was taking you on a trip today! Have fun!" She let go of Bee, then leapt over the register counter with a flip, amazing Bee once again with how flawlessly she performed her acrobatics, how easy she made it seem.

The over enthusiasm Yuffie was showing was her way over trying to make Bee feel better, she knew. Yuffie was always a hugger, always a happy-go-lucky type of person, but her clinginess and friendliness as of Bee's return from the hospital had taken an upturn to soaring new heights. Yuffie was thrown by Bee's sullenness, and felt that she had to compensate for it, urging Bee to go back to the way she was in her own way. It wasn't working, Bee knew, and she was slightly annoyed with it, but she never said anything to Yuffie about it. She was humbled, in a way, that her friend was so worried for her, as was Tifa, so she never reprimanded her friends. They only wanted her to be happy again, and that wasn't wrong of them to do.

Tseng eyed Yuffie warily, then gestured to Bee again. She followed, waving to Yuffie on her way out. The two walked in silence to the end of the street where a small car was parked inconspicuously in the alley way. Tseng got in the drivers side, nodding for Bee to take the passenger seat. She did so, sitting delicately on the leather seat, looking around the car with interest. Tseng started the car and Bee watched as he pulled it out of the alley and onto the street. He glanced at her briefly then asked, "Have you never been in a car before?"

"Not one like this, no," Bee said honestly. She was sitting far up on the seat, almost touching the dashboard. Her hands were gripping the seat on either side of her legs, forming dents in the leather. "There were no cars in the slums. Otherwise I've only ever been on Cloud's motorcycle, Cid's airship, and Tifa's truck. And I've only been in Tifa's truck two or three times. And the helicopter ride to and from the WRO building was my first time in one of them."

"Well, relax," Tseng told her, revealing just a hint of amusement at her nervousness, "I've been driving for quite some time, and this car is very safe. Sit back in the seat."

Bee felt herself blush at his comment, embarrassed that she had been so nervous. She sat back slowly, fidgeting against the seat until her back met the leather behind her. Tseng then explained how to put a seatbelt on, which she did so, and marveled at how the whole thing worked. Tifa's truck was so old, the seat belts were rusted, and Bee had never paid them any mind. Her child-like wonder at the seatbelt and the car itself caused Tseng to crack an actual smile, one that went unnoticed to Bee as she was too busy looking around at the car with wide eyes. She asked Tseng several questions about the car which was so different from the truck, such as how did it move, what did it run on, how did it stop? Tseng answered them as best he could, catering to her wonder and awe as best he could. Bee didn't even notice where they were headed until they were already out of the city, and far past the overlook where Zack had died.

"We are going to Midgar?" Bee piped up, finally observing the environment outside of the car.

"Yes. We will park the car just outside the entrance and walk from there," Tseng told her with a nod. He turned off the road then, driving the car over the grass terrain that surrounded the immediate outside of Midgar. It was a rocky drive, but Bee still recognized where they were.

"Why are we going _there_?" Bee asked, and Tseng knew that she had figured out where they were going.

"Because you need guidance that nobody else can give you," he said simply, ignoring her stare of surprise and continuing to drive over the grass. He finally stopped on the dirt just outside the entrance to Sector 5 and the two exited the car and passed into the dirt and grime of the old slum.

The rubble and trash was nothing new to Bee. She had walked through it for two years, had helped orphans working in it. But the sight of the plate decimated above never ceased to throw her off. She could see the sky now, something she had never been able to do in the slums when she had actually lived there. It was jolting to look up and see the vast blue above her, a sign of freedom over an otherwise shackling ground. She stared up at it as she and Tseng made their way to the church. He held the large door open for her, and she thanked him then headed it. He left it open after he had gone through and noticed that Bee had stopped just inside.

"The flowers have started to wilt," she whispered in horror. She ran forward then, bypassing every pew, jumping over rubble on the ground, and circling around the pond of water. She knelt just outside the field of flowers and held a hand out to one of them, noticing that the edges were browning, the stem bowing a fraction.

"Because she is sad," Tseng told her, coming up behind her and looking at the flowers as well.

"What?" Bee asked, and she couldn't help but be slightly annoyed at how he sounded like he knew Aerith so well.

"She is sad that you are sad," Tseng told her. He knelt beside Bee and also laid a hand on one of the flowers, stroking a petal and frowning at it. "When she is sad, the flowers wilt. It has always been this way."

"I forgot that you would know because you stalked her," Bee snapped angrily. She stood and walked to Zack's sword behind the flower patch and sat beside it, placing a hand on the edge that was not sharp and running the hand down its length, finding comfort in the cool metal.

"I protected her," Tseng defended cooly.

"You kidnapped her!" Bee argued back, raising her voice more than she wanted to.

"I did," he agreed with a nod. He looked down at the flower, his frown still in place, and said, "It was wrong, I know. But at the time, I thought that I would be able to protect her even from within Shinra. I was wrong to think I could ever get Hojo to back down. I knew her before you even did, did you know that?"

"What?" she asked. She had let go of the Buster Sword and was eyeing Tseng with suspicion, not really believing him.

"Aerith lived in Shinra with her mother for quite some time," he told her with a nod, though still not looking up from the flowers, "I knew her then. She never told you that she knew me, did she?"

"No," she replied, her brow furrowing, "She never mentioned it. I thought that when I fell on you, it was the first time she was seeing you..."

"Do not be upset by her omission. She most likely did not want you to worry for her, or for yourself. Everyone, even people in the slums, know the Turk uniform. If you ever saw her conversing with me you would have been very scared, perhaps scared enough to not be around the girl that associated herself with a Turk," Tseng explained, finally looking up at her. He stood now and moved to sit on one of the closer pews.

"No... I understand," Bee murmured, ducking her head. They sat in silence for a moment or two, with Bee observing the wilting flowers in dismay, trying to think of how to make them better.

"She regretted not saying goodbye to you after she left," he told her suddenly. She looked up at Tseng and tilted her head a bit, silently asking him to continue. "She left Midgar without saying anything to you. When I captured her, I think she knew that that was the start to a long journey, one that would take her away from Midgar and you. Elmyra was there when I took her, and Aerith got word to her that she was safe, but she never sent anything to you, not even a letter. She asked me after I captured her to not saying anything to you, no matter what happened to her. She knew you would try to rescue her, or follow her. I think that decision weighed heavy on her."

_Everyone has things they want forgiven in their lives. Aerith wasn't any different._

Clouds words rang in Bee's head at Tseng's presumption. She had originally thought that there was nothing that Aerith could have possibly wanted to have been forgiven for. The thought that Aerith had wanted to be forgiven for not contacting Bee after she left Midgar touched Bee, and saddened her at the same time.

"It would upset her to see your life now," he told her, catching her attention again, "Aerith was full of life, full of happiness and adventure. I often had a hard time keeping up with her, she moved through life so fast. You were like that too, once. I remember you tagging along after her, trying your hardest to keep up. I wish now I had sent Reno out to watch Aerith so that he could have seen what you were like back then."

Bee blushed again. "I was a _child_," she argued, "Of course that's how I was." She ignored the part about Reno. It was easier. Why think about what could have been, what could be? It was too painful.

"I was not like that as a child," Tseng told her, "I don't believe any Turk was a normal child. You lived in the slums, you worked even as a child, but you had Aerith to bring you happiness. It was why you treasured her, why you believed that even though she was gone, her work should continue on. And she would be proud of you. But I don't believe she would approve of your wallowing in misery, of going through the same thing every day. The flowers started wilting on Monday."

Bee said nothing, felt nothing. She already knew this, had known it even before she had met Reno. Cloud had already made her realize how she was trying too hard to be Aerith and forgetting the most important parts of her old friend. Aerith was spontaneous, perky, optimistic, and stubborn in the best possible way. Bee was none of this. There was no point in denying it. She had tried her hardest to live out life as Aerith would have, and failed completely and miserably. She had forgotten how lively Aerith was, instead focusing on the good that Aerith did.

"She loved Zack," Tseng told Bee. She was caught off-guard by the random comment. "With everything she had, she loved him. He was the greatest thing she had. When he disappeared, she held on to the notion that he was alive and that she would see him again. She wrote him eighty-nine letters, in hopes that he would receive them. She gave them to me, but only the last one ever got to him. I never read them, she would not have wanted me to, but I don't think she would mind if you read them." He slipped a hand inside his suit jacket and pulled out a stack of letters, each sealed in a white envelope. They were tied together in a string that was frayed, the letters were obviously old. Tseng stood and walked over to Bee where she still sat by Zack's sword, and handed them to her. She took them, treating them with as much reverence as she possibly could, running a hand over the paper delicately. She seemed afraid that they would slip away, crumble into a thousand little pieces if she put too much pressure on them.

"You kept them all this time?" Bee asked in wonder, turning the letter stack over and noticing Zack's name written in Aerith's handwriting on the top envelope.

"I did. They were Aerith's last gift to him. It would have been wrong of me to get rid of them. I had every intention of giving them to him. I... never got to," Tseng admitted, his voice pained. Bee looked up at him with sadness in her gray eyes.

"The Turks have not let that mission go, have they?" Bee whispered, remembering the way Reno had reacted when he talked about that last mission.

"We all felt responsible," Tseng explained with a nod, "Zack... we had the chance to make sure Hojo did not take him, but we were ordered to stand down. We did, though not without protesting. When Zack escaped, we thought that we could make it up to him by going after him, helping him back to Midgar and hiding him. We failed, and Zack died. I think it was the last straw for the Turks. Most deserted soon afterwards."

"Reno... told me there were more Turks in the past, but he never went into specifics," Bee remembered with a nod.

"Yes," Tseng confirmed, but then let the subject drop and instead addressed the letters again. "Read those on your own time. You should be honored to have them. I feel that out of everyone, she would want you to read them the most. You knew them while they were together. Not many other people can say that."

"I will. Thank you, Tseng. I'm very grateful that you would think to give them to me," Bee told him, meaning every word of it. She had hated Tseng for many years. She was realizing perhaps she had judged too quickly, never really took the time to observe what he was actually doing when it came to Aerith. He talked of her with such fondness, it surprised her. Maybe she had never really known him at all.

"You're welcome... Bee. Your real name is on file, you know. I sometimes wonder why Reno hasn't looked it up yet," Tseng pointed out, pure curiosity in his voice. He sat beside her, glancing at the Buster Sword, appraising it with sharp eyes. He then turned back to the flower patch, wondering if they really were together in the Lifestream.

"What does it matter?" Bee asked, a small bite to her question, "I don't think he cares now anyway."

"I think he does. I think he cares very much." He waited for a reaction but got none. Bee stared stubbornly out at the flowers, her chin on her knees, her hair falling over her shoulders. "You know, Reno was always a complex Turk. He lived for his job, always performed well. Despite his frivolous attitude, he was one of the best Turks we've ever had. It's why he's second in command now. He put up a happy front, but sometimes when I looked into his eyes, I could see how dead they were. I would have to look closely, but it was there. Most Turks had that look, but Reno's were... filled with insurmountable pain. More so than the others. I think he has been doing this for so long, he forgot what it felt like to really be alive. Until he met you. You made him remember how to be a real person again, how to live a life with happiness. You gave Reno hope again."

"And then took it away from him," Bee retorted, not looking at Tseng, not moving her head off of her knees.

"No, he did that himself."

"I don't see how." Bee's voice was almost bored now, like she was no longer interested in the conversation, that it was too tedious to continue.

"You think that he stopped seeing you because he saw how different the two of you were. You think that he saw that you were not fit to be in the life of a Turk. You feel as if you could never involve yourself in that kind of life," he paused, and noticed Bee still was not looking at him, "which is understandable. Not many people could deal being with a Turk. Many people have tried, and failed. I have seen marriages end over it, long term girlfriends and boyfriends leave because of it. However, none of those relationships were you and Reno. You have the added bonus of being protected by Cloud, Tifa, and Reeve. The Turks do not have a quarrel with them anymore, you would never be put in direct danger because of an order to harm you. Rufus has had a change of heart, and most of our orders are now to protect people. If there was ever a time to be close to Reno, it would be now."

"We weren't dating," Bee retorted.

"No, but your relationship was special," Tseng pointed out, "Never have I seen anyone make Reno smile the way you do. Never have I actually _seen_ a real smile from Reno before he met you. In truth, Reno stopped seeing you because he believed that he was hurting you by being around you. He thinks that by being with you, he was tainting you, making you less of a person than you were. And he believed that you were the image a perfect person, someone to admire. Someone to protect. So he believes that in order to protect you, he has to stay away from you. Protect you from not only future attacks, but from himself as well."

She finally looked at him with sad eyes, the rest of her face expressionless. But when she spoke, she had never sounded more like a child, both to her ears, and to his. "How do you know that?"

"Elena had spoken to him a few days ago. She relayed the conversation to me, but I had already conjectured that that was his reasoning."

"That's stupid," she scoffed, ushering the smallest of chuckles from Tseng. She gave him a sheepish smile in return and took her head off of her knees.

"I agree, but your reasoning is just as stupid." She frowned at him and he ignored it. "You see the world in black and white, wrong and right, bad and good. I noticed you had this conception of the world even as a child. Aerith was good, Shinra was bad. Your family was good, Toby leaving was bad. Zack was good, I was bad. You never stopped to think that maybe there was an in between. Maybe there is a gray middle, a compromise to all things. In my experience, a lot of things _are_ black and white. But there are always exceptions, and you and Reno were the biggest exception of them all. You two were the middle ground between Turk and Civilian. You two were the gray. And now, as soon as things take a turn for the worse, you both decide that there is no gray again, there is only black and white, there can only be Turk and Civilian. Never both together."

Tseng laid a hand on Bee's cheek that was opposite from him. She was so shocked by the contact that she allowed him to turn her head to face him, look up into his steely back eyes.

"I have always thought it ironic that you have gray eyes," he informed her, "To never see the color in the world, yet look through that color every day of your life. It has always been right here, literally within you, yet you have never grasped it."

He let go of her cheek, but she did not look away and instead stared up into the face of the man that represented such evil in her life. She remembered how much she had hated him as a child, hated the way he watched Aerith, hated the way he made Aerith afraid. But she had never paused to really think over why Aerith was afraid. She had assumed that it was because Tseng was an unknown, a man from Shinra who was after her. But now that she knew the truth, it was probably because Aerith had been afraid that Bee would ask questions, would find out about Aerith's heritage. Aerith had spent her entire life denying what she really was, hiding from Bee her unusual quirks. If she really hadn't been afraid of Tseng, maybe Aerith was afraid of Bee leaving her the entire time. Maybe that was why she left without saying goodbye to Bee. So many maybes, and no certainties.

No certainties except for Reno. Reno had been the only thing Bee had ever been sure of in her life. The only thing she knew without a doubt that made her happy. Reno simply being with her had filled her life with more happiness than she had ever known. And she had just let him go without even fighting for him. Had let him slip through her fingers without even trying to catch him. Maybe she could never have all of him. But perhaps she could have most of him. She would take that, she decided, as long as he stayed in her life. She would take whatever he could give her, and she would hold it close and treasure it, because he chose to give it to _her_, and from what she understood from Tseng, she was the first person to receive anything from Reno in the way of relationships. Yet she let him go so easily. Like he had been nothing to her, and that was the opposite of the truth.

"Think about what I have said," Tseng told her, standing, "Read the letters. When you are ready, I will be out by the car and I will bring you home." He left her then, with the letters still clutched in her lap, teetering on her legs. She watched him go in silence, not arguing with his request. Instead, she moved to sit in the middle of the flowers, and untied the knot of the string around the letters, letting it fall uselessly on the grass below. She grabbed the letter on the bottom, and opened it, making sure it was in fact the first letter, and then began to read.

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A/N: I have to apologize for being away so long, work has seriously taken over my life to the point where I have so many papers stacked up that are both late and coming up. Next week is finals week, so I will not be posting next week. However, I will go back to posting once a week after finals. Yay! I can't wait. Thank you for your patience, and I would love to hear about what you think about my Bee/Tseng interaction!


	15. Start Over

A/N: I have to apologize for taking so so so long to upload this. I have many excuses, but the one I will give to all of you is that I have been working my butt off the last three months in order to pay for my last semester of tuition, my rent, and all my bills. I pay for everything myself, and this semester has just been brutal, and I feel like I'm never in a place to write anymore. I'm working so hard to get this story done, but work and school are my two priorities right now. I graduate in May, so I'm not trying to screw up my last semester. I hope you all can understand, and will forgive me when the next chapter takes longer than usual as well. I'm so sorry and I thank everyone who had stuck with this story. You guys really keep me going!

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Chapter 15: Start Over

_Zack,_

_It has been officially one week since Tseng told me that you were gone. He told me you were dead, but I know that he is lying. I know that you wouldn't die so easily. And... I can feel you. The planet tells me that you are alive. But if that's true, then where are you? I wish you would come back. I miss you a lot._

_I started selling flowers above the plate. Remember when I told you that I didn't think I would ever be able to do that? I guess I wanted to prove myself wrong, to make you proud of me. I hope that when you come back we can sell them together one day. It would be funny to see you ward off all of the men that try to bring me home with them. Don't worry though! None of them have ever hurt me, I can take care of myself. Of course you already know that._

_Tseng has been hovering even more so than usual. He seems very preoccupied though whenever he is here. Like he's here, but his mind is elsewhere. I wonder if he misses you too. He refuses to tell me what really happened to you, so I stopped bugging him. It seems to upset him. I really hope you're alright._

_The monster that was protecting me, the one with the wing? It's still here. It usually just hangs out in the rafters, silently watching over me. You'd think that having a monster watching me all the time would be scary, but it's really not. He protected me from some rogue Shinra robots again the other day. I wish it had been you, but I bet you're glad to hear that someone is watching over me in your stead._

_I begged Tseng to let me go look for you, but he told me there was no point. I argued with him, and he got very angry with me. I have never seen him so angry, and it upset me, so I never asked him again. I really do want to go find you though. I bet I could find you. The planet would lead me to you. I know it would. _

_Toby has been very effected by your disappearance. He took it harder than I thought he would have. He took the practice sword you got him and went and tried to kill as many monsters as he could in his anger. His sister had to heal him, that little rascal. You know, she's so opposite from him. She treasures your bracelet, works so hard to become as good as me at healing. I don't think I can bring myself to tell her that I have this ability because of my heritage. She enjoys her work though, and I know that with time she will surpass me. I am overjoyed and humbled by this at the same time. She and her brother are very special. They both miss you so much._

_I changed my outfit! I wish you could see it. When you get back, you'll have to tell me how you like it. I'll give you hint about it though, it has more pink in it! I know how much you like pink on me. Don't worry, I still wear the ribbon you bought me. I don't think I will ever take it off. It's all I have left of you now._

_Please come back soon. It gets lonely at the church most days now. I miss your laugh. It used to fill the church so loudly, and it would always make me laugh too. Promise you'll laugh for me when you come back? And we can go on another date! I think that would be such a good idea._

_Be safe. And know that I'm waiting for you,_

_Aerith._

Letter after letter, word after word, it was the same thing. "I miss you. Come home soon." Aerith truly believed that Zack was alive, and that he would come back to her. Every letter she expressed wanting to go after him, look for him, bring him home herself. The only thing that stopped her was because she didn't have the means to go. Tseng wouldn't help her, Shinra probably would have gone and brought her right back. She was stuck, and she hated it.

Bee read each and every letter right there in that church, too mesmerized to take a break, or save the rest for later. They were Aerith's words, and she worshipped every pen stroke, every loop, every dot and period and exclamation point. She would run a hand over every page before reading it, as if touching the words would bring them to life in her ears, like Aerith would read them aloud to her. But Aerith was gone, and these letters were more proof than anything else. When she finally finished the last one, she tied them back up and sat to think.

Aerith had waited for Zack for so long. Waited and yearned. Yet what had Bee done when the person she loved disappeared? She made excuses and let him go. Let him go like he had never mattered to her in the first place. Bee laid back in the flowers, noticing again the brown edges, the wilt of the stem, and she was overcome with an overwhelming sadness. She did not cry. She had done enough of that lately. Instead, she thought over very carefully what her life had become, what she wanted it to become, and what she was going to do to get it there. She fell asleep there, surrounded by the flowers of her greatest friend. And she dreamt of Aerith, of Tseng, of Zack, and of Reno. Aerith spoke to her throughout all of them.

"_You have to let it all go. Let it go. And start over."_

She knew Aerith was right, but she had no idea how to do it. How does a person pick up the pieces of her life so easily? It took Cloud years to piece his life back together. She didn't have years, she knew. She had a matter of days, she figured. What would she even _do_?

Tseng eventually came back to find her sleeping in the flowers, and woke her gently, telling her that it was growing dark, and that her patients would probably be expecting her soon. Bee barely registered the fact that Tseng had waited for her for several hours without switching with someone else. She just nodded sleepily and stood, grabbed the stack of letters, and held it against her chest as they walked back to the car. She got in, buckled herself up, and then took out her phone.

"Toby," she breathed into the phone when she heard his voice on the other end. She was relieved to hear his voice, to know that he was willing to answer her phone-call.

"Hey..." he said warily, "I wasn't sure if you would ever try to get in contact with me again." He sounded nervous, and Bee couldn't really blame him. She noticed that Tseng had glanced at her briefly, but made no comment on her call.

"I know. I'm really sorry, Toby. I really am. It was so wrong of me to have left like that," Bee tried to explain, willing him to hear just how sorry she was. "I was just so mad that you had left us. Surely you understand?"

"I do, sis. I really do. But you never gave me a chance to say that I was sorry. When I saw mom's body... I realized how badly I had messed up. I was so deluded by the image of SOLDIER, I forgot what really mattered. When I offered you help before it was because I knew I hadn't been there before and I want to be there for you now," Toby told her. His words were slightly jumbled, he was still nervous.

"I know, and I'm sorry that I refused to give you a second chance. I was stubborn. And wrong, and I know that now. I was so quick to yell, I didn't even think to listen to you, to even give you a chance to explain yourself. Can we start over? I want to be part of the family again." Her voice was hopeful, expectant, and Tseng heard just the hint of fear in there. She was afraid Toby wouldn't accept. She knew she would deserve it if he didn't, but she hoped beyond every hope that he would.

"Sis, I would love nothing more than to start over," Toby told her, his voice full of relief, and she could hear his old cheerful self coming back.

"Good, I'm glad," Bee said enthusiastically, also relieved, and extremely ecstatic. She could have a family again! "Listen, tomorrow is my birthday dinner at my friend's bar in Edge. I know that it's really short notice, but I would really like for you to be there. Bring Melinda and Aiden! Reeve is coming, he knows where it is, so you could come with him if you wanted..." She listened, wondering if she was pushing it already. But his voice came, just as cheerful as ever.

"I would love to come!" he exclaimed, maybe a little too eagerly, "I knew it was your birthday, I was going to call you on Saturday if you hadn't called me by then. I will ask Melinda, I'm sure Reeve would be willing to take us. Maybe Mel can meet us, Kalm is much closer..." He continued on, talking about plans for Friday, but Bee did not listen. She was consumed with the joy of knowing that her brother, her nephew, and her sister-in-law would be at her birthday dinner. She would have a family, a real _family, _at the dinner, something she hadn't had in years.

Toby finally decided that he would call Melinda and ask what she wanted to do, especially since having the baby meant that some modes of transportation would be off-limits. Bee agreed, and asked him to text her with the cemented plans, and they said their good-byes. Then, just before Bee was about to hang up, she heard words that she had not heard in over four years.

"I love you, sis. I really do, and I'm sorry I haven't shown it in the past few years."

Bee felt the prickle of tear drops in her eyes, and she smiled widely. Tseng glanced at her again, and then again but she waved him off, swallowed, and responded in kind.

"I love you too, Toby, and I'm also sorry. I didn't show it either. I will see you tomorrow." They hung up then, and Bee slowly brought the phone away from her ear, snapped it shut, and then let it fall into her lap. She placed her forehead on the window of the car and smiled all the way back into Edge, Aerith's letters held almost possessively in her hands, her thumb stroking the bottom letter.

Tseng drove her all the way back to her shop. She turned to him before she got out and thanked him, but he dismissed her thanks easily.

"It was not entirely selfless," he said with a grimace. When she gave him a confused look, he explained himself, "Toby has been bothering Reeve and the Turks to no end about you. You've obviously been in a lot of pain lately, causing Elena to worry relentlessly about you. And I was hoping that you would talk to Reno. He... has not been himself lately."

"He was... he was supposed to come tomorrow night," Bee told him, trying not to convey sadness and knowing she was failing. "I was looking forward to him being there."

"He still could be," Tseng pointed out, "Look how easily you patched things up with your brother."

Bee looked over at her shop, watching the pink ribbon on the door handle blow in the gentle breeze that had been going through Edge most of that day. The pink was worn; she would need to replace it soon.

"I don't think that Reno will be so easy... Not easy enough to be able to have him come tomorrow at least. Or at all." She frowned, and turned back to Tseng, and saw that he knew this to be true, but did not want to agree. "You know, for the Chief of the Turks, you're not completely unreadable."

That took Tseng by surprise. He lost his composure for what he had thought was the first time that day, letting his surprise show on his face. Bee gave a low chuckle at this, pleased with the fact that she had caught him off-guard.

"You loved Aerith, and you try so hard to hide it. There's no need. You care about your Turks, more than your own life. You want to see me happy because it will make them happy. If the Turks are happy, they work better, their missions become easier to complete. You're secretly a good person, as all the Turks are. You would not have regrets for not saving Zack if you were really a cold-hearted killer like the Turks are claimed to be. You don't want to admit to me that getting through to Reno will probably be harder than either of us think, and we both already think it will be hard. But you don't want to admit that to me because it will dishearten me, and make me not try."

Bee listed these off, each one coming easily to her, as if they were afterthoughts that she had recently remembered. Like a long lost memory. With each one she ticked off, Tseng felt more and more stunned. Reno had never mentioned how well she read people.

"Relax," Bee told him, standing up from the front passenger seat of the car. She placed her hand on the edge of the door and leaned over so that she could still talk to Tseng. "Like the rest of the Turks, that's just the very surface. I bet even Cloud knows all of that. You've got more layers then the rest, I know it. You wouldn't be Chief if you weren't. But for whatever reason you did this, I am grateful. And you should let Rude and Elena know that they can come tomorrow. So can you. I don't have many friends, so there's plenty of room for you all." She shut the car door then and turned to enter her shop after giving Tseng a polite wave.

He sat in stunned silence before chuckling to himself. As he pulled away from the curb, the amusement did not leave. _Oh, Reno_, he thought to himself after turning the car down the nearest alley way, _No wonder you fell so hard for this girl. She see's the best in everyone even when they don't deserve it, doesn't she?_

The next night came much too quickly for Bee. She had decided not to talk to Reno Thursday night, and then decided Friday that she would not talk to him then either. There would be no point, she told herself. She had bugged Elena a little about Reno that afternoon. Elena was very surprised, to say the least, as after the first day in the hospital, Bee never brought Reno up again. Having Bee talk about him, let alone ask how he had been doing that day had been a major breakthrough on Bee's part. Elena knew that the boss had planned something the previous day, some field trip, he had called it, for Bee, but she hadn't known what it was for. Clearly, it had been to help the girl with her feelings, and this threw Elena even more.

"He's... well he's not doing so well," Elena finally answered after getting over her initial shock. She didn't mention that to say that Reno wasn't doing well was a huge understatement. She had seen him early that morning, in the Turk's smaller Edge headquarters. They had been meeting there with more frequency than they used to. Bee was their primary mission now. Reno was the only one to guard Rufus on a daily basis, and the president had insisted on coming to Edge to also keep tabs on Bee. Elena had been about to leave for Bee's shop when Reno stalked past her, heading for Rufus's office. He was exceptionally angry that day, more so than he had been in the past week. While all other days he had treated with an annoyance, like a mosquito was following him around all day, he had turned his annoyance up to all new level. Now, it seemed to Elena, that a hive of bees was following him around, with one bee in particular really stinging him. Tseng had already informed her about the birthday dinner that night. Apparently, Reno hadn't forgotten about it, and was not dealing with the fact that he wasn't going to go all that well.

"I'm guessing he's not sick?" Bee asked sullenly. She was not working for once, and had actually taken a break to eat lunch. She had made both herself and Elena sandwiches, bringing a bag of pretzels down and two glasses of water as well. Elena had been touched by the gesture, and ate the plate with much gratitude.

"No, no he's not sick," Elena affirmed, snacking on a pretzel twist and sucking on the salt, "I think we both know why he hasn't been doing well."

"Yeah, we do," Bee agreed, her face pained. She had already eaten half of her sandwich but was suddenly not feeling hungry anymore. She flicked her hair over her shoulder and forced herself to take another bite, washing it down with a gulp of her water. She looked back at Elena afterwards and took a deep breath before saying, "I'm... I'm going to... Well I _want_ to fix it. Do you think he will let me?"

Elena wanted to do anything but answer that question. She took another bite of her sandwich in order to stall, but Bee watched her, expectantly, calculatingly, accusingly. Elena could not avoid answering, she knew, so she told the truth. "I... I don't know, Bee. I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Bee said genuinely, "At least you didn't say no."

They finished their sandwiches in silence, with Bee finally going back to work afterwards, trying to multitask making antidotes for the army, and some healing potions for her shop. She had been neglecting making any more products to sell and had noticed she only had about five healing potions left. She usually kept thirty on hand at all times.

It was while she was making these antidotes and potions that she decided that she needed to talk to Reno eventually. She wanted to put it off, she really did. But she also knew that she couldn't forever. She had been miserable the past week, moving through it like it was a haze. Aside from the more important conversations, she didn't really remember much. What had her and Yuffie talked about just two days ago? What question had Cloud asked her just that morning? Nothing had really mattered to her, and she knew that she couldn't live like that anymore. She hated her routines now. She loathed waking up knowing she was just going to do the same thing as she had done yesterday. Yet wake up and go through the motions was what she had done everyday since she had been released from the hospital. And it was going to end, she decided. She would talk to Reno. Just... not today.

Bee stood tall as she walked herself to the 7th Heaven. She held her head high, telling herself over and over again to be happy with the dinner, the small party her friends were throwing for her. Talk to Nanaki, meet your family, hold your nephew, drink a few drinks, play with Marlene, open presents. She listed the events in her head, ready to act out the night in her best happy-mode. Don't focus on the fact that he isn't there, that he doesn't want to be there. You can fix it. Later.

Everyone was there already when she walked through the front door to the bar. This surprised her; she had assumed that she was going to be early, would be able to help Tifa with setting up. Apparently, Tifa had told her an hour late instead of an hour early, and Bee felt humbled by her friend's thoughtfulness. She closed the door, and turned the sign to "CLOSED" and then locked the door for emphasis. Tifa had already warned her regulars that the bar would be closed that night for a private party.

The click of the door shutting caught Cid's attention, as he was the closest to the door at the time. He had been leaning on the side wall, smoking a cigarette as usual, but he turned when he heard the door.

"Hey! Brat's here! Drinkin' can finally start!" he exclaimed, turning the heads of everyone else in the room. He moved forward to clasp Bee's shoulder. "Happy Birthday, kid."

"Thank you, Cid," Bee said with a nod and a smile up at him. She found herself in a better mood now, touched by Tifa's gesture of making sure she did no work for her own party, and amused by Cid (then again, she was always amused by Cid).

She greeted all her other friends as well, thanking Tifa and Cloud, hugging the three younger children, being engulfed in a large hug by Barret, kneeling down to give Nanaki a hug around the neck and nuzzling his fur, getting a handshake and smile from Reeve, and receiving a gruff hello and nod from Vincent. She was surprised to see that Tseng, Rude, and Elena had all actually showed up, and were all wearing civilian clothing. Elena wore a pretty sundress and sandals that Bee thought especially suited her. Rude had opted for jeans and a dress shirt, much like his white Turk shirt, but dark green in color. Tseng had deviated the least from his uniform, and Rude and Elena had teased him about not being comfortable in civvies. He had worn black dress pants and a white shirt, both different form his Turk uniform, but the colors had been so similar that Bee had thought he had just taken off his blazer before entering the bar. However, Bee noticed that the shirt was loose, flowing almost, and his pants had a stripe going down each side. The Turks all assured her that they had brought guns, Elena's strapped to her leg under her dress, in order to protect Bee. She had waved them off, and had thanked them each for coming, her mood lightening even more at their presence.

That left Toby, his wife, and their son. Bee had walked up to them shyly, ducking her head in embarrassment when Toby first greeted her. But he had given her his big bear hug, wished her a happy birthday, and then brought her over to meet Melinda. She looked exactly like she did in the picture Toby had shown her before, only perhaps a little prettier. The photo it seemed had not done her justice. However, she radiated with happiness at finally meeting Bee, handing the baby off to Toby in order to embrace Bee.

"I'm so happy, just _so_ happy to finally meet you. Toby was devastated when he couldn't find you after Meteorfall. Couldn't sleep for weeks, wouldn't eat. And I'm just so overjoyed to have a sister. I lost my family a while ago in the Wutai War, it's so great to have a family again," she gushed into Bee's ear during the hug. Bee pulled back and told her it was an honor to meet her brother's wife. Melinda waved her off saying, "An honor! No! The honor is to be together, as a family! Here, come meet Aiden."

The baby was plopped unceremoniously into Bee's arms, and had she not dealt with babies previously, Bee felt that she would have dropped him with how eagerly Toby handed him to her. Aiden was blonde as well, but had Toby's hazel eyes. He was beautiful to Bee, and she gazed down at the tiny life in her arms and she felt as if the world has slowed down. This tiny being was her nephew, her own blood. Her brother had _made_ this thing, this baby boy. It was simply beyond her comprehension. Even with her healing skills, Bee could not create life, nobody could. She could resuscitate the dead, could cure almost any illness, but she could not bring forth what her brother and sister-in-law had.

Aiden stared up at her with wide eyes, old enough to be able to focus on things close to his face. When Bee asked how old he was, she was told that he would be a year old in a month. A year, but he was so tiny to Bee! So foreign! And he was her _nephew_! Bee couldn't get over it. She had someone who would look up to her now as the years went by. She would be the example to this child, as Aerith had been to her. Now, she was the one leading, and it was a responsibility that Bee took upon her shoulders with the utmost joy. She smiled at the boy in her arms, and leant down to kiss his forehead. Aiden smiled, his gums glistening in the light of the bar, and Bee felt like she was losing herself in those hazel eyes, so much like her mother's eyes. She became aware of how tight she was holding the baby, and worried that she might hurt him. Who knew how fragile he was? Her world halted in that baby's gaze and Bee had never felt more terrified and captivated at the same time.

She looked up at her brother and his wife, and gave them a smile. "He's so beautiful. Would you mind if I held him a little longer?"

"Of course not! Go right ahead!" Melinda told her happily. Beside her, Toby looked down at his sister with such pride that Bee felt that her heart might break. How could she ever have been mad at him? He obviously loved her more than his own life. It had just taken him a little bit longer to realize it. "Hold him as long as you want!"

Bee thanked her, and then swayed Aiden in her arms, gently rocking him back and forth, moving her hips too and fro. He gave a joyous giggle at the motion and Bee's heart swooned. How strange it was to fall in love with a tiny creature so easily, she pondered. She left her brother then, assuring him that she would bring Aiden back, but wanted to go talk to everyone else. She walked over to Tifa, Aiden still grasped gently in her arms. Tifa cooed over the baby, waggling a finger in his face, making him giggle again. Bee paraded her nephew around to everyone in the room, even though Melinda had probably already done the same thing before she had even entered the bar. But Bee did not care. She was an aunt now, and this was her beautiful nephew, and she had never been prouder to walk around to all of her friends. Even Vincent made an effort to show interest in the baby, waving his gold gauntlet in front of Aiden's face, who was mesmerized by his reflection in the gold metal.

Aiden remained in Bee's arms as she walked over to the food, as she asked for a glass of water, as she sat and talked with Nanaki for a half hour, and then even to feed. She held the bottle of milk in her hand clumsily, having never fed a baby in her life. But Aiden took the bottle and suckled easily, grasping with his tiny hands at the sides of the plastic. Bee was pleased with herself, and it was here that she looked up, extremely eager to share her triumph, only to find that the object of her bragging was missing. Reno was not there. She didn't honestly think he'd care that she was feeding a baby, but nonetheless, he had been there for so many of her other first experiences, she wanted him to witness this. To give a snide remark, to grin down at her, to show in his eyes that he was secretly happy for her, but would make fun of her for it later on. But there was no red head standing next to her. No tall lanky male to smirk down at her. And for the first time that night, she felt her heart sink. But the moment passed quickly, and Aiden cried out, pulling her attention back to the boy in her arms.

Melinda finally took Aiden back when Bee was ushered over to the bar, and told that she had presents. She sat on a bar stool, waiting patiently for Toby to present her with a present that he claimed was from "her family." He handed her a thin, flimsy, wrapped square. She unwrapped it gently, and saw that it was a magazine; a first issue of "The Edge Science." It had originally been a magazine that Bee had read constantly while in Midgar, back when it was called "The Midgar Science." It published many great theories on materia, magic, inventions, and alchemy. Some of Bee's best theories were generated from the ideas in that magazine. As she lifted it, a paper fell from the front page. She picked it up and read:

"_We would be delighted to have you write for our magazine. We have heard of your shop and your work with the people of Edge, and we believe that your contribution to the study of alchemy would greatly benefit not only our magazine, but also all future generations of alchemists. We are willing to give you your own segment. Please send us back articles that you wish to have published, and we will have our editors go over them beforehand. Thank you for showing interest in 'The Edge Science' magazine. We hope to hear from you soon._"

Bee read the small letter in disbelief, then gazed up at her brother in awe. He and Melinda smiled down at her, and Toby looked very smug with himself.

"I didn't know what to get you," he said with shrug, "I haven't seen you in so many years, I didn't want to get you something that you already had. So I figured, why not enter your name to be the next alchemist writing for the best modern science magazine on the planet? I think you'd be able to write some really great stuff, don't you?"

The magazine and the letter scrunched a bit in Bee's hands. She smiled at her brother, clutching the magazine closer to her chest, and then nodded. "Yeah, I think I can too. Thank you both so much." She stood and hugged the two of them, avoiding crushing Aiden while hugging Melinda. They told her it was nothing, such an easy present, but Bee didn't think they understood how much this meant to her. They had given her one of the greatest gifts that a person of science could ask for; the gift of sharing the findings that one worked so hard to get to. She was brought back to the bar by Tifa who's smile threatened to crack her face.

"Now, we all chipped in and got you these..." Tifa told her, lifting a large bin onto the bar stool next to Bee. She peered over the sides to see that there were several large items, all wrapped, and then some smaller items, covered in tissue paper. Bee ripped the wrapping paper of one of the bigger items, curiously. She had honestly no idea what they could have been.

It was when Bee noticed that what she had unwrapped was a small carrying cage that she heard the meow from the other side of the bar. She perked her head up quickly, her eyes darting for the sound, when she saw Marlene coming down from the last step of the stair case. In her arms was a small cat, not a kitten, but not yet a full adult. It was white, except for four brown paws, a brown stripe running the length of its back, and a brown tip on the end of the tail. It was sleek, its coat shiny, its eyes the brightest blue Bee had ever seen, and it was being held out to her.

"He's just a year old," Yuffie told her happily, "Already litter trained, fully outdoor cat, so you can bring him with you when you visit your patients if you want! He's perfectly healthy, got all of his shots! And he's very gentle too, perfect for you!"

Bee took the cat into her arms, the feeling of fur very different from the softness of baby skin that had been there previously. But the weight was almost the same, and the eyes caught hers, just as Aiden's had. Bee scratched its head with one hand, and it leant its head into her gesture, purring under Bee's other hand.

"You're always alone at home," Marlene told her disapprovingly, "We wanted you to always have company and someone to cuddle!" She looked up at Bee with hopeful eyes, and Bee knelt down in front of her.

"Thank you, Marlene," Bee said sincerely. She gave Marlene a hug, and the cat meowed again at the contact. Bee stood then and turned to look at her friends, the ones that had been there for her at the very beginning of her new life, and she smiled at them all, hugging the cat closer to her and petting its head. "Thank you all so much." There was a chorus of welcomes, a few nods, and Tifa finally explained that the presents in the bin were everything Bee would need to take care of cat.

"What will you call him?" Denzel asked her, taking his own turn to pet the cat now.

Bee's first instinct was to call the cat Zack, but she threw that idea away just as fast as it came. It was too cliché for her, and Zack could never have his name carried on with a cat, of all things. So instead, she picked the next name that came to her head.

"Dax," she announced, looking down at the cat in her arms, deciding that it fit him perfectly.

"That's the name of the main character in _Materia Rush_!" Denzel said, recognizing the name instantly.

"Yeah. That's Reno's favorite mov-" Her voice caught in her throat as she realized what she was saying, and why she had picked the name. She cleared her throat and ignored the many looks she was receiving, and focused on Denzel instead. "He was very brave, Dax. Wasn't he? I think that this here cat is going to be brave. I'll teach him to follow me all through Edge. And climb with me."

Oblivious, Denzel laughed and agreed, turning to Marlene and Shelke and talking animately about the movie, and Bee turned away from him. Still ignoring everyone else, she lifted the cat off of her chest and held it up to her shoulders, urging him to take a seat there. It took a little coaxing, but eventually Dax draped his lithe frame over both Bee's shoulders, stretching around her neck and swinging his tail languidly along her back. She scratched his head, earning a purr, and then went digging for a treat out of the bin, rewarding him for his new trick. She liked the little guy already.

The cake was brought out right after, a futile attempt made by Tifa to blow past the awkward slip of tongue Bee had had. The cake was delicious, but as Bee ate it, it tasted dry and crumbly, turning to ash in her mouth. That was twice already she had thought of Reno. Now, it seemed, that no matter where she turned in the bar, she wished he was there. She pictured him sitting at the bar, drinking a beer. Standing in the corner with Tseng, their voices low. Making fun of Rude's shirt. Eating a slice of her cake, making a mess of his face with icing. Standing beside her, talking about their mountain trip tomorrow. The mountain trip. How easy it had been to forget about that, even though she had been so looking forward to it, so excited by Reno's offer. Dax shifted on her shoulders and Bee felt that somebody was standing behind her.

It turned out to be three somebodies. Three Turks to be precise. She greeted them with a strained smile, nodding a head at them, and asking if they wanted cake. They all declined, stating that that was not the reason they had come over to her.

"We have a birthday present for you," Elena told her, her voice low as if she did not want the others to overhear her.

"You do?" Bee asked, immediately apologizing. She had not meant to sound surprised, or ungrateful. She just had really not expected a gift, nor did she feel she needed one from the Turks. She told them this, but they waved her off.

"It was nothing we had to buy," Tseng explained. "In fact, it is very simple, really." He held a hand out to Bee, and she took the object he was presenting her with. It was a small folded over strip of paper. She took it curiously, not really sure what she was just handed.

"It's an address," Rude told her. "Reno's address."

"What?!" Bee drew her hand back quickly, as if she had been stung, but the paper was still clutched in her hand. Dax gave a meow, having been jostled on her shoulders. She lifted a hand to lazily scratch an ear again, calming the animal down. "Why would you give me this?"

"Because he refuses to answer his phone," Tseng explained as if it should have been obvious. "For any of us."

"We tried calling him several times today," Elena added, looking at Bee sadly. She seemed softer to Bee in her sundress. Like a big sister trying to explain something to a younger sibling and not knowing how to do it without upsetting them. "But he just won't answer us. We saw him this morning and then... Nothing. Rufus is at the WRO headquarters, so Reno isn't guarding him. Reno is off-duty. We all are for tonight."

"But I don't understand," Bee urged, shaking her head, "Why would you need to call him? Did he have a mission or something?"

"We wanted him to come," Rude told her. She stared at him, silently asking him to continue, but he didn't, not that Bee was very surprised.

"He needs to get over all this!" Elena said exasperatedly, her shoulders hunching a bit. "He should have came today, worked things out with you, but instead he's running away. He's been running away for a week now, won't listen to anything we've said to him. You need to talk to him."

"What makes you think he'd listen to me?" Bee asked disbelievingly. She had yet to open the slip of paper, but had not thrown it out either. It was stuck in the palm of her hand, burning her skin and making her feel fidgety.

"You are the only one he _would_ listen to," Tseng told her, "You mean the most to him out of anyone else that he knows. He has never cared for a person more fully than he has cared for you. He values your opinion more than he values any of ours now. You took over his life completely."

"Then why have you been encouraging me to go see him?" Bee argued. Dax sat more alert on her shoulders at her aggressive tone. "Shouldn't you want me to never see him again because I'm distracting him from his work?"

"You do the opposite," Rude replied. He looked thoughtfully down at his partner's friend, and again noticed how small she looked compared to Reno. She was more than a child, that was apparent, but she exuded innocence, and Rude saw how that appealed to his friend. "You focus him. Give him something to look forward to at the end of a mission. Without you now, he has become more aggravated, going to extreme measures in order to get what he wants. He is Reno without life. He is a hollow shell."

Once again, when Rude finally opened his mouth, the most impacting and eloquent words came forth. Words that made Bee think. She was suddenly very aware of the paper in her hand again, and it felt heavy to her. Heavy enough that she wanted to get rid of it, but not before reading its contents. With shaking hands, she opened the paper and read the address, and then ripped the paper into tiny little pieces, letting them fall to the floor. She watched them swirl, flicker, and land on the wood of the bar floor where they rested, their job complete.

"Tell Tifa," Bee told the three in a rush. They nodded, and she dashed out of the bar, past her brother and Cid, but she gave no explanation. She ran right out the door and down the street, feeling much like she had when she ran out of the WRO building. Again, her mind buzzed with adrenaline, and she dared not take a breath and clear it. If she did that, she would have the ability to think about her spontaneous decision. She would be able to think long enough to decide to run back to the bar, back to the shelter of Tifa and the familiar smell of sticky counter tops and stale beer. And she knew she would remain there, never gaining the courage to do what she was doing now.

Buildings whipped by, and she barely took noticed of where she was going until she realized that she had just passed her shop. She had recognized the address of Reno's apartment. She passed the complex a lot on various trips throughout the city. Who knew that he had lived there this entire time? It was less than a ten minute walk away from her shop. So close, yet she had never known. He had never offered the information, and she had never asked. It was part of the life that Reno had never been willing to part with her. Part of the life that she wanted to be involved in. Part of the life that she craved, and would do anything now to learn about.

The apartment complex was on the smaller side, about four stories high. Bee climbed the stairs to the top floor and noticed that it was fairly clean. There was no trash on the any of the steps, the carpets along the hallway that lead to Reno's door had been vacuumed recently, there were still wheel marks lining them. Even the door to Reno's place was well polished, there were no dents and the handle was a bright gold. Then again, Reno probably didn't get many visitors.

_Well,_ Bee thought as she raised a hand and knocked on the door, _Here's your first one. Let's hope it's a good visit._


End file.
